The romance of the physician Valentine and blind Julia provides the central thread of this engrossing novel, which brings alive the world of the Roman Empire at the time of Claudius II a time when Christians were amongst those whose deaths provided public entertainment in the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Circus Maximus.
It is a novel with remarkable resonances, its ideas startlingly relevant to our own times: globalisation vs. fundamentalism, reason vs. superstition, civil law vs. personal freedom, the perverse gratifications of sex and violence, the subversion of virtue by wealth and the power of passionate love to overcome all obstacles to its consummation.
Valentine is Chet Raymo’s first novel since The Dork of Cork, which is still in print, was translated into fourteen languages and was filmed as Frankie Starlight (directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg). His acclaimed first novel, In the Falcon’s Claw was also widely published in translation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
A novel of never-ending pleasure… superbly innovative. It is a work of rare and irreverent intelligence. — Le Figaro Litteraire
Moving… memorable… a richly poetic book about beauty and destiny, at once compelling and complex. —
Los Angeles Times
From the Inside Flap
Very little is known about the man who gave his name to romantic love, but bestselling novelist Chet Raymo has imagined his biography and brought it vividly to life on the page.
There has long been a suggestion that Valentine was a doctor, and Raymo has built his story around the romance of the physician Valentine and blind Julia, daughter of a Roman jailor. Their love story provides the central thread of this engrossing novel, which also brings alive the world of the Roman Empire at the time of Claudius II a time when Christians were amongst those whose deaths provided public entertainment in the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Circus Maximus.
It is a novel with remarkable resonances, its ideas startlingly relevant to our own times: globalisation vs. fundamentalism, reason vs. superstition, the subversion of virtue by wealth and the power of passionate love to overcome all obstacles to its consummation.
From the Back Cover
Valentine is Chet Raymo s first novel since The Dork of Cork (Warner Books 1993), which is still in print, was translated into fourteen languages and was filmed as Frankie Starlight (directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg). His acclaimed first novel, In the Falcon’s Claw (Viking Penguin 1990) was also widely published in translation.
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