4 out of 4 stars
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Our Eternal Curse I by Simon Rumney narrates the story of an innocent girl named Julia. Mistreated by parents in her early childhood, physically abused by the man whom she trusted with her love and life, and tormented by low self-esteem, Julia becomes an expert in plotting a conspiracy to take revenge against one of the greatest general of Rome.
The story begins when Julia is a child. Her parents treat her like a burden to them. Although she is stunning, her parents plant the seed of low self-esteem in her mind by constantly telling her that she is worthless and ugly. Therefore, when she gets a chance to leave her parents by accompanying Sulla, one of Rome's greatest general, she grabs the opportunity with both her hands. Little did she know that he will rape her and shatter her hope of building a beautiful life with him. After being physically abused by Sulla, she makes revenge a sole purpose of her existence. In her obsession to destroy him for causing her immense pain, she becomes an alcoholic. One of the housemaids of Sulla named Cecilia, tries to help Julia by telling her every day that she is beautiful. This kind act of Cecilia builds a little confidence in Julia, and —much to my surprise — she becomes the second richest person in Rome. My gaze remained fixed on pages of the book because I wanted Julia to get her revenge and destroy Sulla for what he had done to an innocent girl. To avoid any spoilers, I cannot reveal whether she got the satisfaction of vengeance or not; however, I can say that this book had a magnetic charm to me throughout the read.
The mention of several historical figures of Rome and an insight into their lives kept me motivated to read more to gain knowledge about Roman history. For instance, I was excited when I saw the name of Julius Caesar as "an unknown young aristocratic boy." The description of characters is to the point and not written with too much detail.
Julia's trust issues, the effects of bad parenting on an innocent mind, the inhumane treatment of slaves by their owners, and extreme physical abuse of women are portrayed to perfection by Simon. While reading the book, I found myself feeling the pain of Julia, slaves, and those tormented women. Additionally, the author's approach towards writing the struggle of Julia's innocent mind with her revengeful actions is believable. Being a woman, I found myself justifying her actions, every step of the way. I particularly love the parts, where Simon writes how Julia puts on a brave and confident face, even though inside she is terrified to the bones, to execute her plan flawlessly.
I thought that I would lose interest in the last few chapters of the book, where she writes the rebirth of Julia as another human being; however, with the events that followed, I regained my interest. The hold of this book was incredible on me. I was eager to find the end of the story, and whenever I had to put down the book to do my chores, I found myself irritated.
I believe that the author could improve the quality of the book by one more round of proofreading. However, the plot, delivery of dialogues, and the description of events are all perfect.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book to the readers, who like reading about war, conspiracy, and rebirth. Also, the readers, who appreciate the creative twist to historical facts, will enjoy Simon's take on Julia's story.
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Our eternal curse I
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