The Confessions of Young Nero

LoveReading Says

In part inspired by a desire to redress how Nero “has suffered badly at the hands of popular culture,” as the author notes in the novel’s afterword, this epic, expansive tome about Nero’s transformation from little boy to ruthless ruler is a seamless weave of exceptional research and eloquent storytelling.

Nero is but a child when the novel opens and he recalls his earliest memories; wistful recollections of his life with elegant Aunt Butterfly (Lepida) who told him tales of his ancestors, back when he dreamed of driving a chariot, as his father and grandfather had done before him. But Nero’s youthful innocence and inquisitiveness are cut short when Agrippina, the mother he knew nothing of, comes for him. In her charge, young Nero’s life is immediately transformed, and at risk, with cruelty and treachery slithering at every turn, from his uncle Caligula’s attempt to drown him, to his mother’s ruthless desire for power.

Enthrallingly told in the young leader’s voice, this novel epitomises the illuminating scope of historical fiction. While fans of this genre, and readers interested in Roman and Greek history, will undoubtedly adore it, I’d also recommend it more widely. It serves up a rich feast of universally resonant themes - power, struggle, survival – and George’s style is as appealingly lucid as it is lyrical. ~ Joanne Owen

Joanne Owen

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