Persona Non Grata: A Novel of the Roman Empire

by Ruth Downie

Book Overview

The third installment to Downie's Roman Empire seriesthe second-century saga of a witty and courageous army surgeon, Gaius Ruso, and his smart and loyal lover, Tilla, a barbarian woman from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596916095
• ISBN13: 9781596916098
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Ruso and the poisoned man

In this third installment of an excellent series, our protagonist, Ruso, is called home to find that his family is facing a severe financial crisis. When he is negotiating with the instigator of this crisis, who is now the husband of Ruso's former wife, the man dies, and Ruso concludes that he was poisoned. Of course, everyone tends to believe that Ruso is the poisoner, and things seem to go from bad to worse. This is well written, and the plot kept me interested from beginning to end. Ruso's female companion from Britain faces a crisis of trying to accommodate herself to the mores of Southern Gaul, and not falter in the face of disdain from Ruso's family. The female head of the family, Ruso's step-mother, is determined to get him married off to a wealthy widow, and that only complicates Tilla's problems. Things move along very quickly. There are a few subplots, including one about a connection between one of Ruso's sisters and a young gladiator, and we get a glimpse of how the early Christians conducted themselves in the face of dislike by the rest of the people. Of course, everything comes out all right in the end, and we are left eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series. May it come soon!

A Well Researched, Graphically Portrayed Historic Mystery

Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie An officer in the Roman army, stationed in Britain, receives an urgent summons home. He finagles a questionable medical leave and returns to Italy with his "barbarian" girl friend. Once home he discovers that very little is clear and things have changed for the worse while he was away. The main characters are quite clearly portrayed. I think some of the more minor characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. I found my mouth dry in the description of the desiccated travel. Downie provides a good story line and provides an entertaining mystery set in a truly ancient time. What is surprising is the similarities to current events with money manipulations, attorneys and painful consequences. Her history and setting were quite accurate from the hazy recollections I have of my two years of Latin. I recommend the book.

The best Ruso book to date

Normally when I read a historical fiction novel the book is set in Medieval England, but a few months ago I found a series set in England (Britannia back then) during the Roman occupation. I read the first two in a matter of weeks but was not sure I would read the third; the second seemed a little bit of a disappointment. As fate would have it, I won a copy of the third from the publisher and just finished it this morning. I would have finished it last night had my eyes not finally given out. Persona Non Grata is Ruth Downie's finest installment of her Gaius Petrius Ruso series to date. Ruso is a medic (before there were proper doctors and surgeons we had medics) working with the Roman military. Downie's writing skills have sharpened since her first novel The Medicus. Here in Persona Non Grata we get fully fleshed out secondary characters, a great plot line and some really great scenes. My favorite scene involves Tilla leading a prayer at a secret Christos meeting. I almost laughed till I cried. We get to meet Ruso's family including his ex-wife Claudia. The characters are all well written and often just as interesting as Ruso and Tilla. I came away understanding why Ruso would travel to the barbaric world of Britannia; with his family I would have too! This time the mystery hits very close to home and so it made perfect sense as to why Ruso would investigate it. I applaud Downie for having written evil characters that mirror some of our own Wall Street swindlers (though I admit I do not know of any wall street swindlers that have committed murder...yet). I get sick of bad guys who are so far gone that they do not seem in any way plausible. Many authors forget that even the bad guys have to connect with the reader on some level. Here though the characters are mere shadows and not fully fleshed out they are understandable. Greed turns many men bad. The only complaint I have with this series is the relationship between Ruso and Tilla his slave/girlfriend. I have written about this before but it bares repeating. The relationship just does not work for me. Downie does not work on the chemistry between the two. I know Ruso is really attracted to Tilla for her beauty but other than that I see no reason why these two are together. Fans of the series will be happy with the outcome of this book but it left me wondering why Downie did not spend a little more time developing chemistry between the two. Without giving too much away, I would have liked to have seen at least one sappy moment between the two or at least a scene in which Ruso finally figures out that he loves Tilla and tells her so. This would have made the ending all that much more satisfying and leaving this reader wanting more. I hope Downie continues to write as I look forward to watching her evolve as a writer. If you have not yet read this series you are missing out. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes historical fiction.

Ruso Goes Home

Ruth Downie returns with the third book in her Ruso the Medicus series. Ruso is a military doctor in the Roman army who was introduced to readers a couple years ago while serving Brittania in Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire. In this volume, fans get to meet the family we have heard about from a distance as it were. Ruso is recalled by an urgent letter from his brother - or so it seems. Ruso arrives (with his `barbarian' lover Tilla in tow) to find his family fortune in shambles. When their chief creditor drops dead (apparently from poisoning) during a visit to Ruso's home, suspicion quickly focuses on Ruso. The rest of the book is spent unraveling that mystery and reinstating the family fortunes. Along the way the reader learns a bit about Roman life, law, politics, and entertainment. Tilla pointedly questions who are the real barbarians, when part of the `games' sponsored by a local politician include the standard execution of criminal by tying the thief to post and letting wild animals eat them for dinner. Tilla also has a brush with the group of Christos and her attempts to understand this god who is everywhere and knows everything are fun. As with the first two books, Downie uses light touch to combine a mystery with some history. Fans of historical mysteries, especially Roman ones like Steven Saylor's The Triumph of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Roma Sub Rosa), will enjoy Persona Non Grata: A Novel of the Roman Empire. Recommended.

Fun Light Mystery in the Roman Empire

This was a Librarything Early Review read, and it is the 3rd in the Medicus series. The series is set in Roman Britain during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. The main character is a Roman doctor/surgeon. Ruso, who is with the Legion stationed there. In this book he breaks his foot which makes him useless for work. Ruso also gets a letter from his younger brother in Gaul, asking him to come home immediately. Although Ruso is older than Lucius and head of the family, it is Lucius who has been dealing with the family farm/vineyard and the family's debts. Ruso heads home, and brings his British (barbarian) 'housekeeper' and lover Tilla with him. He has never told the family about her, so they are unprepared for her arrival. He makes a mess of it and they think she is a servant/slave. Once home Ruso finds out Lucius didn't send for him, and that Ruso's return endangers the family because now that he is not 'away serving the empire', the bankruptcy case in court against them can proceed. Lucius is accused of a short payment on a loan, which he denies. In an attempt to smooth over the disagreement over whether or not Lucius paid the full amount owed, Ruso goes to visit his father's old friend Fuscus. He is supervising the steward who brought the suit. Getting a semi-positive response from Fuscus, Ruso returns home to find the steward, Severus there waiting for him. They are working out a new agreement to avoid court, when Severus begins to twitch, complain, and vomit. He collapses and dies. His last words are "The Bitch Poisoned Me.". Ruso is alone with him in his study. He rushes off to send for the steward's family, and to find out if the steward has eaten or had anything to drink in their house. While gone, his stepmother has the maids clean the floor and strip the corpse. Ruso returns and is furious because now it looks like he is covering up something about Sevrus' death. Ruso has always had problems with his stepmother and she doesn't listen to him. She spends beyond their means and has been treating Tilla badly. Ruso now finds that Severus was married to his ex-wife, Claudia, and she and her father, the banker Probus, are blaming him for the death, and Fuscus has asked for investigators from the capital. Ruso has to solve the murder before the investigators from Rome arrive. They can torture witnesses they are questioning. Another thread that seems to be part of the murder is the sinking of a trading vessel that was sponsored by both Probus and Severus. Probus had his steward, Justinius, on the ship to supervise. He died and his sister Cassiana is married to Lucius and determined to find the truth of what happened to the ship. Cass and Tilla sneak off the question people about the incident after Tilla finds someone who can give her information. She and one of the servants are attending a private meeting of Christians when she hears the news. Tilla also finds a man who can take her to the port town. Cass unexpectedly joins her on the