My wife reads a lot of romance novels and I, never having read one, had been casting about for a prime example of the genre. And then this hit the list for the 2013 Tournament of Books - a pre-bodice bodice ripper! A tunic ripper?

I did a couple of things I try never to do. I read a review or two in the middle of the book and I also did just a touch of research in halfway through to see how much foundation there was to Miller's version of the romantic elements of the book. (I hadn't encountered the Iliad since high school.) I think it validated why I try not to do either of these things. The reviews that complain about deviations from the Iliad were silly. (One even called it 'derivative' which is precisely and exactly true but not valid as a criticism. Hope they took those hacks Shakespeare and James Joyce to task for the same!) And while there is a heck of a lot of invention on Miller's part, I believe this is both a good thing and not in conflict with the mythology she drew upon.

But, none of that really matters. I believed in the characters and their romantic attachment. It's a great story with a classic tragic hook that is pretty timeless. I'd have given a full complement of stars if it had hit my heart a little harder than it did. Most of my connection to the story was more intellectual than emotional.