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    Stealing Athena
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    Stealing Athena
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    Stealing Athena
    Audiobook18 hours

    Stealing Athena

    Written by Karen Essex

    Narrated by Susan Denaker

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The author of the bestselling Leonardo's Swans traverses the centuries into the hearts of two extraordinary women to reveal the passions, ambitions, and controversies surrounding the Elgin Marbles.

    The Elgin Marbles have been displayed in the British Museum for nearly two hundred years, and for just as long they have been the center of a raging controversy. In Stealing Athena, Karen Essex chronicles the Marbles' amazing journey through the dynamic narratives of Mary Nisbet, wife of the Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to Constantinople, and Aspasia, the mistress of Perikles, the most powerful man in Athens during that city's Golden Age.
    At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the twenty-one-year-old, newly wed Countess of Elgin, a Scottish heiress and celebrated beauty, enchanted the power brokers of the Ottoman Empire, using her charms to obtain their permission for her husband's audacious plan to deconstruct the Parthenon and bring its magnificent sculptures to England. Two millennia earlier, Aspasia, a female philosopher and courtesan, and a central figure in Athenian life, plied her wits, allure, and influence with equal determination, standing with Perikles at the center of vehement opposition to his vision of building the most exquisite monuments the world had ever seen.
    Rich in romance and intrigue, greed and glory, Stealing Athena is an enthralling work of historical fiction and a window into the intimate lives of some of history's most influential and fascinating women.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 17, 2008
    ISBN9780739366318
    Unavailable
    Stealing Athena

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    Reviews for Stealing Athena

    3.5/5

    89 ratings13 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Great story! Well constructed! Occasionally difficult to follow threads, but those threads were always picked up.
    • 5/5
      Stealing Athena is a wonderful historical novel about two relatively unknown women from completely separate time periods. Mary Nisbet and Aspasia of Miletus may have lived more than 2200 years apart, but Karen Essex’s new book shows the similarities between them, both in their lives and in their personalities. A slightly larger portion of the book is from Mary’s point of view, and we are first introduced to Aspasia when Mary begins reading Plutarch’s Life of Pericles. Aspasia was the lover of Pericles, who commissioned the Parthenon Marbles. Mary’s life became forever intertwined with the Elgin Marbles, as they are also known, when her husband, Lord Elgin, set out on his quest to ‘rescue’ the marbles from Athens for the glory of Britain. Stealing Athena spans the entirety of Mary’s marriage to Lord Elgin, including the years it took to obtain the Parthenon Marbles, and parts of Aspasia’s life with Pericles. Essex’s book gives very interesting insights in the women’s relationships and how they assist their partners in their endeavors, despite the prejudices against women in both eras. We also are given a window into the cultures and beliefs of their society, which made it easy to understand what motivated them and their peers. Overall, it is a great book to read, for either the relationships and character dynamics, or for the historical settings and culture. I personally believe if you like historical fiction or character driven novels, you’ll love this book.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable novel shifts between Mary, wife of Lord Elgin (you know, the one who nabbed the Elgin Marbles) and Aspasia, companion to Pericles, who built the Parthenon.

      I wanted more of both stories -- which I think is a good sign, and there were a few details that didn't really hang together for me, but there are two really interesting women here, treated with thought and compassion in two spots of history that haven't come across my radar much.
    • 5/5
      Stealing Athena is a wonderful historical novel about two relatively unknown women from completely separate time periods. Mary Nisbet and Aspasia of Miletus may have lived more than 2200 years apart, but Karen Essex’s new book shows the similarities between them, both in their lives and in their personalities. A slightly larger portion of the book is from Mary’s point of view, and we are first introduced to Aspasia when Mary begins reading Plutarch’s Life of Pericles. Aspasia was the lover of Pericles, who commissioned the Parthenon Marbles. Mary’s life became forever intertwined with the Elgin Marbles, as they are also known, when her husband, Lord Elgin, set out on his quest to ‘rescue’ the marbles from Athens for the glory of Britain. Stealing Athena spans the entirety of Mary’s marriage to Lord Elgin, including the years it took to obtain the Parthenon Marbles, and parts of Aspasia’s life with Pericles. Essex’s book gives very interesting insights in the women’s relationships and how they assist their partners in their endeavors, despite the prejudices against women in both eras. We also are given a window into the cultures and beliefs of their society, which made it easy to understand what motivated them and their peers. Overall, it is a great book to read, for either the relationships and character dynamics, or for the historical settings and culture. I personally believe if you like historical fiction or character driven novels, you’ll love this book.
    • 1/5
      Now this book also promised an exciting historical adventure but lapsed so quickly into romance novel cliche that I had to put it down after only 5 pages. Drek. Sad. 
    • 3/5
      A fairly decent historical fiction, especially if you are interested in art. While I was not particularly impressed with the details or style, nor was the story itself overly memorable, it was a pleasant enough way to spend a few evenings before retiring.
    • 4/5
      ''Stealing Athena'' has a beautiful cover, one of the nicest I've seen in a long while. Rich and opulent, just like the settings for this story. A novel based on true events, it reads like a romance. The tale is a romantic one, taking place as it does in Greece (both ancient and "modern" (19th century)) and Constantinople. The author's attention to detail is wonderful; she makes you see the fascinating places she describes. I really like that she included a section telling what happened to each of the major characters, including the Elgin Marbles.
    • 4/5
      What do an early 19th century British ambassador’s wife and a 5th century B.C. Athenian courtesan have in common? That is, essentially, the connection explored by Karen Essex in her latest book, “Stealing Athena.”Karen Essex is a master of historical fiction. She describes places and time periods so evocatively that one might think that they were there. In addition, her stories are clearly meticulously researched - I have previously read and enjoyed her novel “Leonardo’s Swans.”That being said, I think “Stealing Athena” dragged a bit in the middle. It probably could have been 50 to 100 pages shorter. Part of my problem was that, at that time, I was not really seeing how Mary Elgin and Aspasia’s stories fit together in a cohesive way. Eventually I became interested in the parallel struggles they faced as women, over 2,000 years apart. In addition, I think Mary’s story in relation to the marbles would have been very poor indeed without the background on their place in Athenian society and their creation for the Parthenon; Aspasia told the story of the marbles in a very interesting manner. As far as I know, this was Essex’s first attempt at dual time period historical fiction and with that consideration she did quite well. In addition, the marbles really do have a fascinating story and Essex writes so well that I think this book is worth a read for fans of historical fiction, particularly those interested in the Ottoman Empire and Constantinople, ancient Athens, and Britain during the reign of Napoleon.
    • 4/5
      This book was told through the perspective of two women, one living in ancient Greece as a mistress to Pericles and one living in the 1700s as an ambassador's wife in the same area. The chapters alternated between the two time periods. The stories never seemed to flow together. They were too separate without enough in common to make the book work. I found the story set in ancient Greece to be more interesting than the later story, but both were very drawn out and slow. The end was particularly frustrating, because the two women's stories did not have enough resultion. I think this book had a lot of potential, but it did not live up and fizzled out at the end. I recommend it to anyone interested in ancient Greek history and art because those people may get more out of the descriptions of the art and the time period than I did. Overall, I enjoyed parts of the book and gave it 3.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      When Mary Nisbit, a beautiful and vivacious young woman, marries the handsome Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to Constantinople, their future together looks bright. Soon they begin a journey traversing the globe that will culminate in Athens, where Elgin has plans to excavate and transport the ruins of the Parthenon to England. Although Elgin is ostensibly in Constantinople to smooth foreign relations between Britain and the Ottoman Empire, his passion lies with the exportation of the ancient Grecian ruins of the temple of Athena. Throughout their travels, Mary flourishes in the exotic locales and befriends many important and influential people, but she longs for the comforts of home, and struggles through many difficult pregnancies and political upheavals. As the years pass, Elgin becomes more and more insistent in removing and shipping vast quantities of the relics, to the severe detriment of his wife's fortune and the stability of their marriage. Meanwhile, separated by thousands of years, the story of Aspasia is told. Aspasia is the philosopher and lover of Pericles, the statesman who is responsible for the construction of the Parthenon. As Aspasia's story unfolds, we are privy to her ordeals and victories, as well as receiving an enlightening picture of ancient Greece, from the segregation and subjugation of it's women, to the intricacies of it's religious ideology. Through the weaving of these two tales, we get to know these two extraordinary women and chronicle the beginning and ending of this great monument, from it's design and construction to it's deterioration and removal from it's homeland.As a historical novel, this book really excels. The level of research that went into the book made the story very full and engaging without making it dry and flavorless, and the execution of the story was quite adept. Mary and Elgin's story was the main focus of the book, and I would say that Mary's chapters outweighed Aspasia's about six to one. Mary was a very likable heroine, who was skilfully portrayed as a woman that was easy to relate to, and embodied many of the emotions that a woman of today's time might feel. She was a very credible character who sacrificed much for the love of her husband and children, while still being independent and knowledgeable. I felt more connected to her character than any other in the book, and admired her efficient diplomacy and kindness. It almost seemed that Mary was the foreign ambassador, maintaining the goodwill between the two nations all on her own, while Elgin traipsed around collecting artifacts. I especially enjoyed the sections devoted to Mary's meetings with the Captain Pasha of the Ottoman empire. Their unlikely friendship made Mary's stay in Constantinople much more bearable. His generosity and goodwill seemed to know no bounds, and it was monumental that he allowed Mary to visit the inner sanctum of the Harem and to meet the Sultan's mother, the Valida. Although the sections on the life of Aspasia were interesting and involving, I believe the limited exposure to her character made her less a focal point to the reader. This is not to say that her story was less compelling, only less detailed. One particularly interesting aspect of Aspasia's story were the details regarding Pheidias, lead artist of many of the great sculptures and friezes.Elgin, however, was a completely disgusting fellow. He was very manipulative and not shrewd with his spending habits at all. Many times throughout the book, he displayed a shocking amount of arrogance and sense of entitlement to the relics that he wished to possess. From the outset, I found Elgin to be almost insufferable and egotistical. There were times when he seemed proud of the work Mary was doing on behalf of the embassy, but even then his wheedling for more money overshadowed the more pleasant aspects of his character. There seemed to be no bounds to his collecting, regardless of the cost or hardship that he created for everyone else. He was single minded in his pursuits, not taking Mary's feelings into consideration, and constantly placing her in undesirable situations. As he was based on a real person, I can only say that I would not like to have met Elgin in reality. The author's ability to capture Elgin's flaws was incredible; he was a fully realized unpleasant ass. Many will argue the merits of Elgin's cause, perhaps stating that the artifacts are better off having been deconstructed and preserved rather that destroyed in their natural setting, and though I somewhat agree with that sentiment, it way the way that the collecting was undertaken that was particularly irksome. There is no way to tell if the artifacts would have been lost had this pillaging not taken place. One of the more heinous opinions that Elgin expressed was the sentiment that the people of Greece were heathens who didn't deserve to keep their temple. The grandiosity of his thinking and his subsequent actions towards the end of the book made me realize that I had not judged Elgin too harshly at all.Before reading this book, I had not been exposed to any information regarding the Elgin Marbles or the controversy that still swirls about them today. This insight to the history of some of the most important pieces of artwork in history was both unsettling and revealing. It was a testament to the author's capability that I was able to see and understand the historical importance of these valuable relics, while still being appalled at the ravaging of the stones from their origins. The story was extremely involving and intricate, with characters that were well fleshed out and believable. This story inspired many emotions in me, from disgust and incredulity, to admiration and wonderment. Never was the plot dragging or soft. I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction as well as those who just want a good character driven story.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this one! Not only is the cover beautiful, the storyline was very good as well.Aspasia is a courtesan and philosopher in ancient Athens, unable to marry her master due to a law he himself has set in place. Even though a woman's place is to be hidden and quiet, she sets out to argue logic, find truths, and help others with her advice. Throughout the course of her story, we meet the artists and sculptors that created some of the famous statues and friezes, and how she influenced them.Lady Mary Elgin is wife to a British ambassador in the 1600's. What started as a whirlwind marriage met with disapproval from her parents, slowly degrades into unhappiness and bitterness, and eventually, divorce. Her husband's great ambition was to bring home the marbles that we saw being built in Aspasia's story, back home, with much acclaim and wealth. Mary, using her charms and smarts, tries to help him meet his goals, which in the end, is grossly misunderstood, and used against her, by her husband, taking from her her greatest possessions.I felt Mary was a strong and smart woman, going against her role of modesty and meekness to help her husband, and standing up for what she wanted in the end. I couldn't help but feel sad when her husband took away what she most dearly loved.. And Aspasia, who was a social outcast in Athens because she wasn't a legal citizen and originally sold to be a courtesan, helped influence some of the great minds of her time. The author tried to stick to the facts as closely as she could, which I did appreciate, and she wrote the story very well. The only downside, and it's very small, is my book actually arrived with a page ripped in half. Other than that though.. Nothing but praise here.
    • 5/5
      An engrossing read featuring two strong women at opposite ends of the Elgin Marbles – one the wife of a diplomat, determined to bring them to England, and the other a philosopher-courtesan. The book follows the lives of Lord Elgin and his wife Mary, in their procurement of the Parthenon sculptures, or what would be known as the Elgin Marbles, and the life of Aspasia, companion to Pericles in Athens when those same structures were coming to fruition two thousand years earlier. I thought that the alternating narration worked well; both Mary and Aspasia’s lives were compelling to follow, and the trial and effort put into building and dismantling the structures were contrasted through the eyes of these two women.
    • 5/5
      If you have been to the British Museum in London you could not have missed the Elgin Marbles, those lovely white carvings taken from the Parthenon in Athens. What you might not have done is imagined the arduous task it was to move them there. In this historical novel Karen Essex has painted the picture for us of the personal lives of the people involved.In 1799 Lord Elgin was appointed ambassador to Constantinople. He was a newlywed and took his wife, Mary, with him to his post. He was glad to have been given the position because he was an architecture buff and believed that what the Ancient Greeks built was the pinnacle of architectural perfection. At the time, Athens was occupied by the Ottoman Turks. They were camped at the Acropolis and were smashing the marbles to use for building materials, using the core metal to make ammunition. He wanted to make moldings and have drawings done so that those historical buildings would not be lost forever. Mary was only twenty one and pregnant at the start of this odyssey. But she was a lovely, smart and charming young woman. She won the admiration of the Sultan and other high ranking Turks. The Turks put no value on the ancient buildings in Greece and, as a favor to Mary, ended up allowing the Elgins to remove whatever ancient item they desired from the country. Removal of the priceless ancient sculptures became an obsession for Lord Elgin. He spent an enormous amount of money extracting the artifacts, becoming deep in debt, causing transportation nightmares, ruining his health and his marriage. All the while competing with Napoleon and the French for artifacts in between the Napoleonic Wars.While we see the destruction of the Parthenon through Mary's eyes, the author also gives us a glimpse of it's construction through the eyes of Aspasia. She was the mistress of the man behind the building of the Parthenon, Perikles, and a philosopher in her own right. Through her the reader is given a window into the society of ancient Athens and their political structure, which shows us the roots of our own.Since that time the debate has raged: where do the marbles belong? The Greeks would like them back and have even built a new museum to house them when they return. The British Museum shows no sign of letting them go. It is questionable whether the marbles would even still exist now if they had not been removed when they were. This is a great historical novel with it's basis in fact. The author did extensive historical research and it shows in the story line. It is a fascinating story of two strong women who had the courage to take control of their own lives.