New Book Alert: The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George
Book 1 in the Nero Series
e-Book, Hardcover, Paperback; 528 pages
Berkley Books
ISBN: 0451473388
March 7, 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Book Blurb:

THE CONFESSIONS OF YOUNG NERO takes readers through the early life of Rome’s infamous Nero. Through the machinations of his mother, Agrippina the Younger, Nero became emperor at the age of sixteen, the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. But the road was a frightening one.  The young boy, an intelligent, sensitive and watchful child, had a series of psychological shocks from an early age.  His cruel uncle Caligula and his scheming cousin Messalina threatened his life, and his domineering and ambitious mother Agrippina married and poisoned two men en route to securing the throne for her son. Agrippina viewed Nero’s power as an extension of her own will. But once on the throne—like the teenage boy he was—Nero did not want to take orders from his mother.  Soon the world was not big enough for the two of them. Thereafter he was remembered as a hedonist and tyrant who “fiddled” while his people burned. But the truth behind the caricature, revealed here, shows Nero to be instead a product of his mother’s relentless ambition, and the incest, violence, luxury, and intrigue that have gripped Rome’s seat of power for generations.

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Praise for The Confessions of Young Nero

“The Confessions of Young Nero is a wonderful novel, one of Margaret George’s finest. Her rich, vivid descriptions and keen insight into human nature bring ancient Rome to life as only the very best historical fiction can. Readers will be enthralled from the riveting first scene to the breathtaking finale.” —Jennifer Chiaverini, New York Times bestselling author of Fates and Traitors and Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker

“Absolutely spellbinding! The magic Margaret George weaves with her latest novel, The Confessions of Young Nero, leaves the reader feeling as if they’ve been transported more than two thousand years into the past. Margaret George is a masterful storyteller, and every character in The Confessions of Young Nero leaps from the page. A truly wonderful read!”—Michelle Moran

“With her signature style and keen eye for research, Margaret George frees Nero from lurid legend, resurrecting the fearsome, often misunderstood emperor in all his glory, forsaken innocence, and fallible humanity. From a curious boy overshadowed by his mother’s malignant ambitions to a gifted youth enamored of the arts and obliged to take the throne, young Nero leaps to life in this vivid, unforgettable confessional of his early life and first years as emperor. Set against a backdrop of ancient splendor and decadence, The Confessions of Young Nero is the triumphant return of one of our finest living writers of historical fiction—the engrossing tale of Nero’s gradual surrender to absolute power, and his struggle to retain his soul as he becomes Imperial Rome’s most notorious ruler.” – C.W. Gortner, author of The Vatican Princess

About the Author:

Margaret George writes biographical novels about outsized historical characters: Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Helen of Troy, and Elizabeth I. Her latest, The Confessions of Young Nero, will be published in March. All six of her novels have been New York Times bestsellers, and the Cleopatra novel was made into an Emmy-nominated ABC-TV miniseries.

She especially enjoys the research she has done for the novels, such as racing in an ancient Greek stadium, attending a gladiator training school in Rome, and studying the pharmacology of snake poison.

Find Margaret George: Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

You can watch this video of Margaret George discussing the defining moments in Nero’s life:

 

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