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Feast of Sorrow A Novel of Ancient Rome Crystal King Books

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Feast of Sorrow A Novel of Ancient Rome Crystal King Books

There have been few books that have caught my attention, and beckoned me to keep reading, but Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal King did so. Her book is a captivating tale that centers around Apicus, a wealthy Roman, and his cook Thrasius. Apicus purchases Thrasius as a slave as he was looking for the best coquus (cook) available.

Throughout her book the author references cooking or recipe notes attributed to Apricus allowing the reader to take a peek into the ancient world of Roman cookery. Of course this is fiction, but the fiction is based on fact, as there were cookbooks written by Apicus although they have disappeared into history. As the author writes in her "Author's Note" at the end of the book a cookbook was compiled in the third or fourth century based on Apicus' recipes.

King based her book on actual fact, interweaving characters as needed to complete her story, and backs up her research with aforementioned "Author'a Note" found at the end of her book.

If you love cooking, love ancient history, and love historic fiction you will love this book as much as I did.

Highly recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from Edelweiss.


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Feast of Sorrow A Novel of Ancient Rome Crystal King Books Reviews

Feast of Sorrow is a brilliant work of Historical fiction which seamlessly interweaves fictional and historical characters and, in addition, provides an insight into how the Romans conducted their famous feasts, what foods they ate and how they were prepared.
Apicius was a famous gourmand of first century A.D. Rome, the beginning of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He wrote and published a number of cook books and was renowned for his cenas-the many course feasts that Romans ate while lounging on their triclinia.
The story is told from the point of view of Thrasius, a freed slave who is the true genius behind Apicius’ culinary success. He begins from the time Apicius buys him in the year 1 BC.
Apicius is extremely rich, having inherited 100 million denarii, and he is monumentally profligate, something that makes Thrasius uncomfortable. He has a villa in Baiae, a popular resort town and Apicius installs Thrasius there as his cook. His feasts are the talk of the town, with everyone vying for invitations.
Apicius is married to Aelia, and they have a little daughter named Apicata. Thrasius soon becomes a favorite of the family, and falls in love with Apicata’s nursemaid, Passia. Baiae is idyllic, and Thrasius leads a privileged existence for a slave. Apicius, however, is not content. He wants to be famous. He wants to be he gastronomic advisor to Caesar. In pursuit of this ambition he brings his household to Rome and builds a cooking school, installing Thrasius as the instructor. As Thrasius’ fame spreads, Apicius’ rival, Publius Octavius seeks to buy him from Apicius but Apicius won’t sell him. Octavius is the gastronomic advisor to Augustus Caesar, and Apicius’ refusal angers Caesar’s wife, Livia, not a person whose enmity you would want to court. (The author appears to be of the “Livia was a monster” school. This makes for dramatic historical fiction but was probably contrary to fact. If anything, Livia may have actually been a moderating influence on both Augustus and Tiberius. Tiberius certainly became far more vicious after she died.)
The infant, Apicata grows into a beautiful teenager, and, unfortunately she draws the attention of the ambitious Sajanus, a cousin of Aelia and a close friend of Augustus Caesar’s step-son and heir, Tiberius. Sejanus has damaging information on Apicius and he uses it to force him to give Apicata to him in marriage. I had read enough of Tacitus and Suetonius to realize that this story would not end well for Apicius and his family.
Feast of Sorrow is a fascinating story and well told.
In late Augustan Rome, food is power. Good food, that is. That’s why Marcus Gavius Apicius spends an unheard-of twenty thousand denarii to buy a slaveboy named Thrasius, who has begun developing a reputation as a chef. Exhilarated by his new purchase and entranced by the prestige of becoming Rome’s premier gastronome, Apicius disregards the warnings of a soothsayer that success will bring sorrow with it.

Apicius’s star ascends as Thrasius invents ever more unusual, succulent, and expensive dishes. Meantime, Thrasius finds a family in the house of the Gavii, from his appreciative (if increasingly erratic) master to Apicius’s wife Aelia and daughter Apicata, his own beloved Passia (Apicata’s slavewoman), and the other slaves. But a shadow looming over the household—the ill will of Livia, the emperor’s wife—is soon darkened by another the rise of the ruthless Sejanus, who holds a dark secret over Apicius’s head.

Author Crystal King weaves an entrancing tale of ambition and treachery interspersed with exotic recipes from Apicius’s real-life cookbooks (which are really Thrasius’s, we assume). Her characters are fully dimensional with well-realized desires and fears, especially the likable Thrasius, who over time grows in confidence and authority. The relationship between masters and slaves is well handled. All in all, a well-told story that is definitely recommended.
Crystal King has written an epic story of politics, romance, fabulous food, and relationships, causing the reader to be fully invested in all the people who inhabit her tale of Ancient Rome, from the slaves to the ruling class. It's a well-written book that thoroughly entertains while it also teaches about the culture, dangers, intrigues, and power plays during the reign of Augustus Caesar. Crystal has written a compelling and dramatic novel in which she describes the life of Marcus Gavius Apicius, the first-ever uber-wealthy foodie, and his chef Thrasius. Highly recommend!!
There have been few books that have caught my attention, and beckoned me to keep reading, but Feast of Sorrow A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal King did so. Her book is a captivating tale that centers around Apicus, a wealthy Roman, and his cook Thrasius. Apicus purchases Thrasius as a slave as he was looking for the best coquus (cook) available.

Throughout her book the author references cooking or recipe notes attributed to Apricus allowing the reader to take a peek into the ancient world of Roman cookery. Of course this is fiction, but the fiction is based on fact, as there were cookbooks written by Apicus although they have disappeared into history. As the author writes in her "Author's Note" at the end of the book a cookbook was compiled in the third or fourth century based on Apicus' recipes.

King based her book on actual fact, interweaving characters as needed to complete her story, and backs up her research with aforementioned "Author'a Note" found at the end of her book.

If you love cooking, love ancient history, and love historic fiction you will love this book as much as I did.

Highly recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from Edelweiss.