Mary Renault

The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS In the final novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend. Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three, leaving behind...

Injured at Dunkirk, Laurie Odell, a young corporal, is recovering at a rural veterans' hospital. There he meets Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. The men find solace in each other's friendship, which slowly develops into a covert, chaste romance. Then Ralph Lanyon appears, a mentor from Laurie's school days and now a naval officer. Through him, Laurie...

'Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics' - Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe. The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the...

This second instalment in the story of the legendary hero begins with Theseus' triumphant return from Crete after slaying the Minotaur. Having freed the city of Athens from the onerous tribute demanded by the ruler of Knossos — the sacrifice of noble youths and maidens to the appetite of the Labyrinth's monster — Theseus has returned home to find his...

The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat - SARAH WATERS The heavens say it begins with the death of the King . . . Alexander the Great, conqueror of an empire stretching from Greece to Egypt to India, is dead at the age of thirty-three. His only direct...

‘All my sense of the ancient world – its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions – comes from Mary Renault. Her Theseus novels are perhaps the most exciting of her Greek fictions, and The Last of the Wine the most moving. I turned to writing historical fiction because of something I learned from Renault: that it...

Mary Renault is a shining light - HILARY MANTEL Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent - MADELINE MILLER The sequel to The King Must Die. The Bull from the Sea continues the story of the hero Theseus after his return from Crete. Having freed the city of Athens from the terrible tribute demanded by...

'One of the greatest historical novels ever written' SARAH WATERS 'I love to find queer representation in historical fiction... Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART 'Fierce, complex and eloquent' MADELINE MILLER 'Mary Renault is a shining light' HILARY MANTEL * A groundbreaking queer classic and powerful reimagining of the last years of Alexander the Great, told through the...

'One of the greatest historical novels ever written' - SARAH WATERS 'I love to find queer representation in historical fiction. . . Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' - DOUGLAS STUART 'Fierce, complex and eloquent' - MADELINE MILLER 'Mary Renault is a shining light' - HILARY MANTEL A groundbreaking queer classic and powerful reimagining of the last years of Alexander...

'The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS 'The Alexandriad is one of the twentieth century's most unexpectedly original works of art' GORE VIDAL In the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive...

Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics — Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe. The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the...

A VIVID, SWEEPING SAGA OF QUEER LOVE AND POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSYour love made me. Do not take it away; for without love I am a temple forsaken by its god...

THE ANCIENT GREEK STAGE BROUGHT THRILLINGLY TO LIFE BY THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION'Mary Renault has made the classical era alive' GORE VIDAL'Her books have stood the test of time' INDEPENDENTThe artist flows into the mask the poet offers him; only so will the god possess him. Greece, fourth century BC. The golden age of theatre may be over, but...

AN ODYSSEY OF ART AND POWER, BY THE CLASSIC QUEEN OF ANCIENT GREEK RETELLINGS'Mary Renault is an exceptional storyteller' CHARLOTTE MENDELSON'A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description' WALL STREET JOURNALEach generation has its own dream of beauty. I have lived long enough to watch it change.At...

The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat - SARAH WATERS The Alexandriad is one of the twentieth century's most unexpectedly original works of art - GORE VIDAL In the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader...

Set in fourth-century B.C. Greece, The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theatre's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience, and he refers to it for his gravest decisions, when...

Renault's masterpiece. One of the greatest historical novels ever written - SARAH WATERS In the second novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend. The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and...

A hardcover omnibus edition of the two classic novels in which Mary Renault brilliantly recreates the legendary hero Theseus and his defeat of the Minotaur. In two remarkable historical novels, Mary Renault fashions from the myth of Theseus a convincingly flawed hero and weaves a thrillingly plausible account of the Labyrinth and the infamous Minotaur. The King Must Die follows...