The Mirror of Diana: A Novel of War and Love

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Summary: MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Review:
TO ALL THE TREASURE LOST IN WAR reads the dedication of The Mirror of Diana, a novel that has as its centerpiece a major, yet little-remembered, archaeological disaster of World War II: the mysterious burning of the monumental ships of the Emperor Caligula as the German army retreated from Rome. But I found in this book much more than fascinating archaeological background. I discovered a novel as touching as it is exciting.

Klaus Schmidt, a crack artillery officer but also a lover of antiquities, visits the ancient ships of Caligula, housed in a museum south of Rome. Paolo, the ship museum's curator, overcomes his dread of his German visitor and discovers a kindred spirit in Klaus, who is bewitched by the ships. The two develop a warm friendship, although Paolo's dread returns as his daughter, Rosanna, and Klaus are inexorably drawn to each other. Klaus and Rosanna's deepening love leads to complications that worsen exponentially as the pages fly by.

Writing in clean and elegant prose, A.R. Homer evokes a vivid image of wartime Italy and draws the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the characters, breathing life into them all. The idealistic Klaus often vacillates and broods while Rosanna, although brave and determined, displays the immaturity of youth. There are also Paolo, with his head-in-the-clouds obsession for the safety of the ships, Maria, his unsentimental and survival-focused wife, Gianni, the street-smart and ever-hungry urchin, wise beyond his years, and Gunther, Klaus's savvy sergeant, who longs to be back on the farm in Bavaria. But Dressler, the SS commander with whom Klaus locks horns, made my stomach lurch every time he appeared on the scene.

This fascinating and well-researched book will appeal to a wide audience. In addition to those interested in World War II and ancient history and legends, The Mirror of Diana is a novel for all who love pulsating historical fiction. The breathtaking plot twists and the relentless suspense will hold the reader in thrall, and the poignant story of the star-crossed lovers will touch the heart of everyone. I give The Mirror of Diana my highest recommendation.




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Summary: The elements of compelling fiction
Review: I look for three things in a novel. First, I want to enjoy an absorbing plot; second, I want to learn something; and third, I want to meet characters who are so real I care about them. "The Mirror of Diana" fulfills all my criteria, and then some.

In a literary universe where so many plots are recycled, the plot of "The Mirror of Diana" is refreshingly original - for example, a German World War II officer is the hero, and the little-remembered but greatest archaeological disaster of the Second World War is the centerpiece. The officer, Klaus, has a love of the classics and a disgust in all things Nazi, but in 1943 he finds himself heading an artillery unit for the Fuehrer's army in Italy. But his love of antiquities leads him to the fabulous ships of the emperor Caligula. He forms a friendship with Paolo, the museum's curator, whose daughter, Rosanna, he rescues from rape by drunken German soldiers. Rosanna is beautiful, and despite everyone's better judgment, she and Klaus fall in love. The disastrous consequences of this love and of Klaus's steadfastness to his ideals make for palm-sweating reading in the second half of the book, when he battles not only with his odious Nazi commander, but also with his internal conflict of love versus duty.

As for learning something, the novel is based on an actual event - the mysterious burning of the ships of Caligula as the German army retreated from Rome. The author weaves into the story some fascinating history about these huge floating palaces, about the German occupation of Italy, and about the 2500-year-old Temple of Diana and its bizarre legends (which, by the way, inspired "The Golden Bough").

The characters in "The Mirror of Diana" are vividly alive: the idealistic but vacillating Klaus; the archaeologically-gifted but superstitious Rosanna; Paolo, Rosanna's head-in-the-clouds father; and Maria, her long-suffering but hard-boiled mother. Supporting cast include Gunther, Klaus's sergeant, who can make anything happen by winning at cards, and Gianni, the ragged but dauntless ragamuffin who is Klaus and Rosanna's go-between. And under the urbane exterior of Dressler, the SS commander, glow the burning coals of unspeakable villainy. And, of course, there are the magnificent but doomed 2000-year-old ships.

This is a beautiful book and I give it my highest recommendation. Well done, A.R. Homer!

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Summary: An intriguing, well-constructed novel
Review: I'll skip the plot synopsis of 'The Mirror of Diana', as it has already been covered by other reviewers. But I just finished this book and found the plot of this novel refreshingly straightforward. Not that it's lacking in suspense - there's a lot of surprise in this book; in fact, most of the novel's chapters end with a cliffhanger that makes you keep breaking your resolution to "read only one more chapter before going to bed." The difference is that 'The Mirror of Diana' has no gerrymandered plot configurations used by some authors who didn't quite know where they were headed but who felt the need to add some pizzazz, but leave loose ends dangling at the end of the book - you know, the ones that always leave you with a sort of literary indigestion.

But this book is a feast - a fascinating and beautiful tale told with the eloquent simplicity of a competent and confident author. I enjoyed this book immensely. You should read it.

Rating:
Summary: An intriguing, well-constructed novel
Review: I'll skip the plot synopsis of `The Mirror of Diana', as it has already been covered by other reviewers. But I just finished this book and found the plot of this novel refreshingly straightforward. Not that it's lacking in suspense - there's a lot of surprise in this book; in fact, most of the novel's chapters end with a cliffhanger that makes you keep breaking your resolution to "read only one more chapter before going to bed." The difference is that `The Mirror of Diana' has no gerrymandered plot configurations used by some authors who didn't quite know where they were headed but who felt the need to add some pizzazz, but leave loose ends dangling at the end of the book - you know, the ones that always leave you with a sort of literary indigestion.

But this book is a feast - a fascinating and beautiful tale told with the eloquent simplicity of a competent and confident author. I enjoyed this book immensely. You should read it.

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Summary: If You Liked Corellis Mandolin, You Will Love This Book
Review: Just as I enjoyed Corelli's Mandolin, I adored The Mirror of Diana.

The Mirror of Diana, like De Bernieres's fine book, takes place in a Mediterranean country (Italy in this case) and is rich in historical detail and redolent of its wartime setting. But what really propels the plot of The Mirror of Diana is the tender but injudicious love between Klaus, a German officer (it's OK - he's not a Nazi), and Rosanna, an Italian woman; since this takes place in 1943, a time when the two countries are no longer allies, their relationship is fraught with danger.

But the Mirror of Diana is far from a clone of Corelli's Mandolin, or any other book for that matter. It involves the fascinating real historical mystery of how the emperor Caligula's fabulous ancient ships, for which Rosanna's father is the caretaker, came to be destroyed in 1944. From the outset, you know the great ships are doomed. But when you discover how, you get the greatest surprise of all - not surprise for its own sake, but surprise because of what the larger-than-life characters are driven to feel, to choose, and to do.

Throughout, this book asks the single most important question of all human interaction: when there are conflicting choices, do you listen to your heart or do you listen to your head? And what if your head is telling you more than one thing, and so is your heart? The development of this theme begins on a gentle, sweet note and builds to a searing double climax.

The Mirror of Diana will keep you captivated from the first to the last page. I look forward to seeing the movie version of this book some day.

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Summary: The Butterfly on the Battlefield
Review: Klaus Schmidt - a German artillery officer - is the stereotype-smashing protagonist of this spellbinding novel. A former classics professor in civilian life, Klaus is forced to lock horns with his Nazi commander because of his desire to preserve archeological treasures, and, above all, because of his love for an Italian woman.

The novel begins after the war, when Klaus returns to a small town south of Rome; he harbors conflicting emotions about what happened there during the war, about a secret he hopes has not been discovered...

With expressive yet uncluttered writing, Homer takes the reader back to '43-44, where the main action develops. Klaus's unit has been posted to Rome as Mussolini is overthrown and the Allies threaten Sicily. Klaus enjoys the world's capital of antiquities before going to the museum which houses the fabulous ships of Caligula. There he befriends Paolo, the museum's curator, with whose daughter, Rosanna, he falls in love. Later, as the Germans impose a harsh regime and the Allies land at Anzio, these simple human acts of intellectual curiosity, friendship, and love will bring down a torrent of trials on them all as events coalesce to create the perfect dramatic storm.

Basing his book on an actual event - the burning of Caligula's ships in 1944 - Homer weaves his story around some fascinating historical and archaeological background. His riveting tale evokes the butterfly on the battlefield: the dangerous love between Klaus and Rosanna seems doomed by the horrors surrounding them, personified by the vile Nazi commander seeking to destroy everything Klaus holds dear. The book's unpredictable plot twists kept me up one night; my wife adored the bittersweet love story. We both enjoyed the minor characters, all of whom are sensitively drawn. It is a tale skillfully told, and not one to be missed.

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Summary: Stirring Evocative Story
Review: This is a magnificent tale told in stunning passion, and I agree with the reviewers who believe this could be turned into a beautiful movie. Set against a backdrop of Roman History in World War II, the ships of Caligula and the myths of Diana as well as the haunting characters take center stage, grab your heart and never let go. And the end of the story is handled with a masterful touch of literary suspense, even up to the last line. A.R. Homer is an author whose star is rising and I dearly look forward to his next book.

Other reviewers have explained about the book so eloquently that I cannot add more to their descriptions except to say that I too loved this book and highly recommend it.

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Summary: A Book that Breaks the Rules
Review: To paraphrase Hemingway, people in war are different from the rest of us: they have more troubles. Which is to say that, down deep, they are largely the same as us, regardless of which side they fight on - they laugh, they get hungry, they make love, they make mistakes. Much has been written about war's ability to transform ordinary humans into brute beasts or superhuman heroes. But The Mirror of Diana moves us with its story of how simple kindness, decency, friendship, and love between a good (yes, good) German officer and an Italian and his daughter set off a chain reaction of catastrophe and horror that culminate in one of the greatest archaeological disasters of World War II - the destruction of the monumental ancient ships of Caligula. And this event, in turn, irrevocably changes all the characters' lives. I will leave it to you to see whether the love that brings these compounded tragedies ultimately triumphs.

This novel is impressive in that it sets a compelling story inside a well-researched and vivid tableau of occupied Italy during the Second World War. But it also weaves in the ancient legends of the area in which the action takes place, a lake south of Rome that was sacred to the goddess Diana in ancient Roman times. Without resorting to any unseemly spiritualism, the author ingeniously uses the legends as metaphors for the drama taking place in 1943 and 1944.

This book causes the palms to sweat and the stomach to lurch. But it also stirs the soul and touches the heart. The Mirror of Diana is a stunner.

Rating:
Summary: A Book that Breaks the Rules
Review: To paraphrase Hemingway, people in war are different from the rest of us: they have more troubles. Which is to say that, down deep, they are largely the same as us, regardless of which side they fight on - they laugh, they get hungry, they make love, they make mistakes. Much has been written about war's ability to transform ordinary humans into brute beasts or superhuman heroes. But The Mirror of Diana moves us with its story of how simple kindness, decency, friendship, and love between a good (yes, good) German officer and an Italian and his daughter set off a chain reaction of catastrophe and horror that culminate in one of the greatest archaeological disasters of World War II - the destruction of the monumental ancient ships of Caligula. And this event, in turn, irrevocably changes all the characters' lives. I will leave it to you to see whether the love that brings these compounded tragedies ultimately triumphs.

This novel is impressive in that it sets a compelling story inside a well-researched and vivid tableau of occupied Italy during the Second World War. But it also weaves in the ancient legends of the area in which the action takes place, a lake south of Rome that was sacred to the goddess Diana in ancient Roman times. Without resorting to any unseemly spiritualism, the author ingeniously uses the legends as metaphors for the drama taking place in 1943 and 1944.

This book causes the palms to sweat and the stomach to lurch. But it also stirs the soul and touches the heart. The Mirror of Diana is a stunner.

Rating:
Summary: The Mirror of Diana
Review: What a wonderful story -- I fell in love with Klaus and Paolo and Rosanna from the minute I "met" them. The story kept me mesmerized and I couldn't wait to begin reading again every evening, which is the highest compliment I could ever pay an author. The compelling prose causes the reader to become involved and care deeply about the characters. The story line is magnificant -- especially the way mythology is weaved into the plot -- along with the drama of the main characters, we are swept up into the world of gods and goddesses. As I reached the end, I reluctantly closed the book, and found myself longing for more!! I eagerly await Tony Homer's next novel!! Much congratulations to Tony Homer for his spectacular first novel.