The Mirror of Diana: A Novel of War and Love

by A.R. Homer

The time is 1943, a time of war. The place is the hill-perched town of Nemi, in the Alban Hills south of Rome, overlooking the crater lake where, 2000 years before, the Roman emperor Caligula sailed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932560637
• ISBN13: 9781932560633
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Llumina Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Historical Fiction that Soars

Here, embedded in a well-researched historical mystery, is a story of love and war that really soars. Among the tragic casualties of World War II were two 2000-year-old ships lavishly built for the emperor Caligula, sunk in Lake Nemi, then raised during Mussolini's prewar reign. The irony of the ships' surviving for two millennia immersed in the lake, only to suffer complete destruction just a few years after they had been raised up, is a fascinating but little-known bit of history woven into this enthralling tale of love between a German officer and an Italian woman in wartime Italy. Klaus Schmidt, a historian before the war and now a German officer who detests the Nazis, rescues Rosanna Giraldi from rape by German soldiers. Rosanna's father, Paolo, the curator of the museum housing the recently-raised ships, finds he shares a love of antiquities with the German officer and, learning that Klaus has rescued his daughter, forges an uneasy friendship with him, even as he watches with concern as Rosanna and Klaus fall in love. But with Italy in the midst of abandoning its alliance with the Reich, with Mussolini falling from power, with the villagers and Paolo's own wife loathing the Germans, and with Klaus falling afoul of his Nazi commander, Klaus's friendship with Paolo and his love for Rosanna bring down on all their heads a violence that rivals the legendary horrors of Caligula. This eloquently-written novel is both a poignant love story and a pulse-pounding war tale that transports us to an evocatively-depicted wartime Italy. Even the secondary characters are vibrantly alive: Gianni, the street-smart urchin; Gunther, Klaus's can-do sidekick, and Maria, Rosanna's tough but tender mother. And Dressler, the Nazi commander whose party loyalty and sadistic tendencies are indistinguishable, is horrifying. The plot that carries these characters is breathtakingly original, full of surprising twists, and with a denouement that will pluck at your heart. I enthusiastically recommend this novel.

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

TO ALL THE TREASURE LOST IN WAR reads the dedication of The Mirror of Diana, a novel that has as its centerpiece a major, yet little-remembered, archaeological disaster of World War II: the mysterious burning of the monumental ships of the Emperor Caligula as the German army retreated from Rome. But I found in this book much more than fascinating archaeological background. I discovered a novel as touching as it is exciting. Klaus Schmidt, a crack artillery officer but also a lover of antiquities, visits the ancient ships of Caligula, housed in a museum south of Rome. Paolo, the ship museum's curator, overcomes his dread of his German visitor and discovers a kindred spirit in Klaus, who is bewitched by the ships. The two develop a warm friendship, although Paolo's dread returns as his daughter, Rosanna, and Klaus are inexorably drawn to each other. Klaus and Rosanna's deepening love leads to complications that worsen exponentially as the pages fly by. Writing in clean and elegant prose, A.R. Homer evokes a vivid image of wartime Italy and draws the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the characters, breathing life into them all. The idealistic Klaus often vacillates and broods while Rosanna, although brave and determined, displays the immaturity of youth. There are also Paolo, with his head-in-the-clouds obsession for the safety of the ships, Maria, his unsentimental and survival-focused wife, Gianni, the street-smart and ever-hungry urchin, wise beyond his years, and Gunther, Klaus's savvy sergeant, who longs to be back on the farm in Bavaria. But Dressler, the SS commander with whom Klaus locks horns, made my stomach lurch every time he appeared on the scene. This fascinating and well-researched book will appeal to a wide audience. In addition to those interested in World War II and ancient history and legends, The Mirror of Diana is a novel for all who love pulsating historical fiction. The breathtaking plot twists and the relentless suspense will hold the reader in thrall, and the poignant story of the star-crossed lovers will touch the heart of everyone. I give The Mirror of Diana my highest recommendation.

The Mirror of Diana

What a wonderful story -- I fell in love with Klaus and Paolo and Rosanna from the minute I "met" them. The story kept me mesmerized and I couldn't wait to begin reading again every evening, which is the highest compliment I could ever pay an author. The compelling prose causes the reader to become involved and care deeply about the characters. The story line is magnificant -- especially the way mythology is weaved into the plot -- along with the drama of the main characters, we are swept up into the world of gods and goddesses. As I reached the end, I reluctantly closed the book, and found myself longing for more!! I eagerly await Tony Homer's next novel!! Much congratulations to Tony Homer for his spectacular first novel.

An intriguing, well-constructed novel

I'll skip the plot synopsis of `The Mirror of Diana', as it has already been covered by other reviewers. But I just finished this book and found the plot of this novel refreshingly straightforward. Not that it's lacking in suspense - there's a lot of surprise in this book; in fact, most of the novel's chapters end with a cliffhanger that makes you keep breaking your resolution to "read only one more chapter before going to bed." The difference is that `The Mirror of Diana' has no gerrymandered plot configurations used by some authors who didn't quite know where they were headed but who felt the need to add some pizzazz, but leave loose ends dangling at the end of the book - you know, the ones that always leave you with a sort of literary indigestion.But this book is a feast - a fascinating and beautiful tale told with the eloquent simplicity of a competent and confident author. I enjoyed this book immensely. You should read it.

If You Liked Corellis Mandolin, You Will Love This Book

Just as I enjoyed Corelli's Mandolin, I adored The Mirror of Diana.The Mirror of Diana, like De Bernieres's fine book, takes place in a Mediterranean country (Italy in this case) and is rich in historical detail and redolent of its wartime setting. But what really propels the plot of The Mirror of Diana is the tender but injudicious love between Klaus, a German officer (it's OK - he's not a Nazi), and Rosanna, an Italian woman; since this takes place in 1943, a time when the two countries are no longer allies, their relationship is fraught with danger.But the Mirror of Diana is far from a clone of Corelli's Mandolin, or any other book for that matter. It involves the fascinating real historical mystery of how the emperor Caligula's fabulous ancient ships, for which Rosanna's father is the caretaker, came to be destroyed in 1944. From the outset, you know the great ships are doomed. But when you discover how, you get the greatest surprise of all - not surprise for its own sake, but surprise because of what the larger-than-life characters are driven to feel, to choose, and to do.Throughout, this book asks the single most important question of all human interaction: when there are conflicting choices, do you listen to your heart or do you listen to your head? And what if your head is telling you more than one thing, and so is your heart? The development of this theme begins on a gentle, sweet note and builds to a searing double climax. The Mirror of Diana will keep you captivated from the first to the last page. I look forward to seeing the movie version of this book some day.