The Slave by Pauline Montagna is the latest historical novel I read and it is a lovely, gripping one. A real page turner. I was first drawn to it by the original love story the author proposes as the main feature in the plot. A young woman from a rich Italian family doomed to obey her father first, then her husband, the man his father chose for her and a slave coming from Asia and serving in her house, a handsome young man with a broken soul and a mysterious past.
As Harriet Martineau states in her works about women's rights, slaves and women experienced the same kind of subjection: an absolute luck of equality, no basic rights, no dignity. Is that why Batu and Aurelia feel immediate sympathy for each other?
I recommend you this exciting romance if you enjoy reading historical fiction. I'm sure you'll love it. You can get your free copy following the instructions at the end of my interview with the author, Pauline Montagna.
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First of all,
I’d love to know something more about you, Pauline. Did you always want to
become a writer?
Although I was born in Australia, all of my
grandparents and my mother were born in Italy. My mother was born in the Val
d’Agri in Basilicata and came to Australia when she was twelve. My paternal
grandfather came to Australia from Isola d’Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, in
1921 and my father was born here. I grew up with a strong Italian identity and
studied French, Italian and European history at university.