REVIEW: The Dreamer’s Loom (aka The Dark One) by Michelle L Levigne
Dear Ms. Levigne,
What a wonderful historical novel you’ve written. It took me straight back to my early teenage years devouring every book I could find on Greek myths and mythology and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Though I did wait until college before reading the Aeneid. But I digress….
I always wondered what Penelope did all those years while waiting for Odysseus to finally get his ass home. Now I have the answer. Readers looking for a strong, capable and intelligent woman need look no further. Odysseus was right when he said “A wise, resourceful wife I won in my youth. A wise, faithful wife I have regained. My love, you awe me.”
I like the fact that you make their marriage so realistic. True love never runs smoothly and even the best love matches will have times that try the bond between a husband and wife.
And all this before the Achaians set sail in their black warships, across a wine dark sea to reclaim Helen as they had sworn to do before her father chose Menelaos from amongst all her suitors. I like how you cleverly weave known myths and reality with probable fiction and give us a home life for Penelope, first as a young bride and mother then as a sorrowing wife waiting against all hope for the man she loves to return, all set against a backdrop of Hellenistic politics. When I first read the Odyssey, I always wondered why she and her son Telemachos didn’t just throw her suitors out on their ears before Odysseus returned to wreak vengeance on all the men who had so cruelly invaded his home and tormented his wife. You give plausible reasons for their patience. And a tearful reunion scene to reward Penelope’s faithfulness.
It’s a lovely story and one I hope will eventually be rereleased. A
~Jayne
Wow. An “A” review. I am going to have to pick this up. This is the kind of story that needs these alternative print publishers.