The Wedding Shroud: A Tale of Ancient Rome

It is not every day that we see a romance novel set in the ancient Etruscan society. That alone makes “The Wedding Shroud” stand out from the rest. This piece of historical literature gives us a rare glimpse into this not-so-famous part of history. It’s almost like history class, with a spoonful of sugar. (The author, Elisabeth Storrs, attests that it took her ten years to research and write the story.)

But “spoonful of sugar” does not do the story justice, for even without the history lesson, the novel has enough merits to stand on its own.

The heroine, Caesilia Aemilius, was born in a Rome at a time when Rome was not yet the grand and powerful empire that we often see in our mind’s eye. It was not yet a Rome that simply conquered all its neighbors and enemies. It was a Rome that had “negotiation” in its vocabulary.

And negotiate it did. Wanting a truce with Etruria, Rome sends Caecilia to be married to Etruscan nobleman to seal the deal. Thus the young girl, born and raised in a staid and virtuous society, is suddenly thrown into a world where pleasure is the ultimate good. How long will she be able to resist this new world’s temptations? And when her new home comes under attack, to whom will she give her loyalty?

The story that unfolds is a well-written heart-fluttering romance, with an ending most readers will love.

“The Wedding Shroud: A Tale of Ancient Rome,” by Elisabeth Storrs, is a General Fiction category runner-up in the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards.