I Am Livia

The two worst sins of historical fiction: the book has no apparent grasp of the mores of its period and instead projects modern attitudes towards such topics as women, arranged marriage, sex, divorce, and so on. What's worse, its central character is neither sympathetic nor interesting. It's no crime to lack the insights of a Shakespeare or Robert Graves, whose masterpieces covered many of these same events. It's quite another to not be able to reach the modest standard of Bruno Heller's HBO series.

Phyllis Smith's I Am Livia is a fictionalized account of a very powerful woman who has been regarded suspiciously by history: Livia Drusilla, wife of the Roman emperor Augustus (born Octavius). I'd actually never heard of her before I read this book, but it was a Kindle First title and I'm into historical fiction, so I picked it up and I'm glad I actually got the chance to read about Livia and her life. And a lady who gets her first husband to give her away to her second husband just days after she gave birth to the first husband's child (true story!) is someone I'm interested in learning about.

Livia was the older of two daughters of a Roman senator, and Smith kicks off her story just as Livia's father is throwing his support behind the assassins of Julius Caesar. Like many historical fiction heroines, Livia is a smart and strong-willed young woman, educated by her father about government and politics. Despite having had a chance meeting with young Octavius in which the two become besotted with each other, Livia's marriage to her older cousin, Tiberius Nero, is arranged for political purposes. Smith doesn't take the easy way out and make Tiberius cruel to Livia to get readers to root against him and their marriage: he's not a bad man or even a bad husband, Livia simply doesn't love him. She tries to be a good wife to him anyways, bearing him two sons and trying to advise him on how to best navigate the complicated world of Roman politics in the era of the Triumvirates. But when Livia and Octavius re-encounter each other years after her marriage (and when she's heavily pregnant with her second of those sons she had with Tiberius), their connection can no longer be denied and Tiberius is persuaded to bow out as graciously as any person possibly could, really, with the whole giving-her-away bit I mentioned above.

Livia uses her status as wife of the First Citizen of Rome to assume some power of her own: she handles his correspondence, gets him to allow her the legal right to make her own decisions about her own property under the guise of giving the same right to his popularly-beloved sister Julia, helps him see the advantages of making sure the citizens of Rome are taken care of and not just focusing on war and conquest. The use of one of my least favorite literary tropes, love at first sight, bothered me like it always does, but I appreciated that Smith drew Livia and Tavius (a pet name for Octavius) as a complicated couple. Besides their ultimately unsuccessful struggle to have a child of their own and the strain that situation places on their relationship, they're both hard-headed and stubborn and there's a point at which their marriage is very near breaking down because of miscommunication and pride. And while Livia loves her husband, she's not so crazy about him that she can't see advantages to their separation, which takes some of the saccharine out of the tired "we've been in love since we first laid eyes on each other" sweetness that underlies their relationship.

Smith does a good job of neither making Livia a paragon of virtue nor a tyrant greedy for ever-more authority as she acquires and uses power over the course of her life. It lets us ask ourselves why we're uncomfortable with the idea that a woman would want the power to make her own decisions even if her husband would never deny her the opportunity to do what she wanted. Livia's mother was content to be in the traditional female "power behind the throne" role, why does Livia want more active power? If she plants ideas with her husband after they've slept together, is it her using her body to get what she wants or simply taking advantage of the time they're most relaxed and are actually alone together to discuss the things that are important to both her individually and them as a couple? The questions the book raises and the strong characterization of Livia overrides some underdeveloped side characters and a workmanlike prose style to create a work that's definitely worth a read, especially if you're interested in Roman history and/or feminism.

Highly polished? Seriously? With prose like "I felt fear" you're not really in for a treat. Bless this writer for trying. It's a great idea. But I kept wondering how this got published. Finally I checked who the publishing house is, and it's an Amazon Imprint. So it's self-published and it seems like an author who knows a few basic rules but hasn't spent time honing her craft or pushing her work. Sorry. Don't believe the reviews--just use the Look Inside feature and take a look

This book was surprisingly good. I was hesitant at first to give it a try - I'd added it to my 'to read' list a year or two ago - and when I did finally start it the other day, I found I was hooked from the first chapter.

Phyllis T. Smith is an excellent storyteller and created a strong but modest character out of Livia Drusilla. She was very relatable, and easy to love. I even found that I liked the Octavius that Phyllis created. It's not easy to write about him without painting him in a horrible light. We don't really know whether he was psychotic or not, or if Livia was as cruel as the rumors suggest, and that makes it hard to write about their personalities without taking lots of artistic liberties.

I enjoyed the writing immensely. I was captivated from the start, and found myself really enjoying the tension between Octavius and Livia that was created. Not many authors can make you feel for the characters as much as Phyllis has.

I'm just about to start the followup novel [The Daughters of Palatine Hill] that was just released yesterday. I have high hopes and know I will not be disappointed!

I want to like this book, because I generally like historical fiction, but I can't. The writing is dull, the pace is slow, and it's hard for me to care about any characters in the story, including the title character, who is also the narrator. It has the feel of a book that was self-published, and the only reason I'm slogging through it is that it was chosen by my book club.

I love historical fiction and getting a chance to read books that I might not find on my own. This historical fiction takes place in Ancient Rome and tells the story of Livia Drusilla in her point of view. It was interesting to be able to imagine how things happened through her eyes. We know we all see the same thing differently, and this is the fictional account from Livia herself.

This book was very well written and well researched. I found myself very intrigued with Livia. I like strong women in fiction and real life and she fit the bill. In this novel and in that period, Livia was ahead of her time.

The author wrote an amazingly descriptive story placing the sights and sounds very real and vivid in my mind. Her characters, the ones that had an impact, were well fleshed out. I could feel the tensions of the time, of war, but Livia's voice was so strong that I was immersed in her life instantly. Her thoughts, desires, and wishes became mine.

Not only would I recommend this book to any of the historical fiction lovers out there, but anything else she decides to write, I'll be here waiting for it. She's also peaked my interest in this time period. It's not one I've read before this and now feel the need to find more during this time.

Very interesting read and one that will sweep you up until it's over, and, believe me, you'll wish there was more.

A stunning, detailed, lovely story.

Really fantastic debut novel--fans of generously adapted historical fiction (think The Other Boleyn Girl, not The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) will enjoy. I came in without much insight into the reign of Tavius (Augustus) or the life (deliciously scandalous) of Octavia. It has enough twisting to make me curious enough to Wikipedia it to see if it was true--and it was true enough to return me to my reading. Deeply enjoyable, and I ripped through it in a day.

I am a fan of historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. Highly readable and informative.

Great book! Rereading it now. Perfect for Philippa Gregory fans!