Aeneas is leaving tomorrow. Dido, the Queen of Carthage is grief-stricken and many of those in her court mourn for lost loves as Aeneas and his crew prepare to sail away. Adele Geras’ Dido is an imaginative re-telling of the classical story of Dido the night before Aeneas leaves.

Dido, her court, guards and servants are enduring utter turmoil that night. Those who cannot sleep seek solace together or alone, fearing the dawn and remembering the events since Aeneas’s arrival nearly a year ago. It is through these memories, of women and servants, that the story of the love affair between Aeneas and Dido unfolds. The meddling of the Gods and Aeneas’s growing restlessness and desire to follow his destiny. Dido explores the price that must be paid for following your heart. Dido, lost in the headiness of love, believes herself to be married to Aeneas, while Elissa one of Dido’s servants thinks she can win the heart of Aeneas by looking after his son. Dido’s sister Anna tries to entrap the heart of the court musician Iopas, whose affection is for Elissa. Each tastes the bitter truth of unrequited love when Aeneas departs.

 Adele Geras beautifully conjures up the youthfulness of love - hopeful, exciting and reckless - tinged with the sadness of the pain and the suffering that will follow. The author particularly explores the feelings and emotions of the women in the story and includes some descriptions of physical love. It is a book that will therefore appeal to more mature readers aged 12+. Sadly, Dido cannot escape her destiny and she will fully embrace her fate. Although her story does not change, Adele Geras, perhaps suggests an alternative ending in the character Elissa, Dido’s former name.

2009-06-06