Jane Stevenson (1) (1959–)
Author of The Winter Queen
For other authors named Jane Stevenson, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Jane Stevenson was born in 1959 in London & brought up in London, Beijing, & Bonn. She teaches comparative literature & translation studies at the University of Warwick & lives with her husband in Warwickshire, England. Her novel, "London Bridges," will be published by Houghton Mifflin in 2001. show more (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Jane Stevenson
Associated Works
The Margery Allingham Omnibus: Three Campion Mysteries (2006) — Introduction, some editions — 18 copies
The Oxford history of classical reception in English literature. Volume 2, 1558-1660 (2015) — Contributor — 8 copies
Changing Bodies, Changing Meanings: Studies on the Human Body in Antiquity (1997) — Contributor — 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Stevenson, Jane
- Legal name
- Stevenson, Jane Barbara
- Other names
- Stevenson, J. B.
- Birthdate
- 1959-12-02
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Bonn, Germany
Beijing, China - Education
- Newnham College, Cambridge University (BA|1980|Ph.D|1985)
- Occupations
- novelist
lecturer - Relationships
- Davidson, Peter (husband)
- Organizations
- Campion Hall, University of Oxford
University of Warwick
University of Aberdeen
Sheffield University
Henry Bradshaw Society - Awards and honors
- Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Fellow, Renaissance Society of America
Fellow, International Society for the Study of the Classical Tradition
Fellow, International Society for Neo-Latin Studies
Fellow, Royal Historical Society
Fellow, Society of Authors - Agent
- Pat Kavanagh (Peters, Fraser & Dunlop)
Peter Straus (Rogers, Coleridge & White)
Members
Reviews
Excellent fun! Now we see the story of Balthazar etc. indirectly, through the eyes of 21st Century academics! I can't say that all the dangling bits from the Shadow King were tied up, but we zoom out here enough not too care. The details bubble up in some scrambled order as our researchers puzzle them out. The modern day action is all believable enough and fits together well. Maybe the big message is that our struggles today, our political narratives, are similar enough to those 300 years ago.
We watch Balthasar from his medical student days to his flourishing practise in London. There is a strange side story that seems incompletely developed. These shady characters play a tangential role in his life. It's hard to say how his life would have been much different if they never made contact at all. I get to wondering if I am missing some inside joke. Maybe the story of Balthasar, in some twisted form, is actually some classic literature and I don't know about the work or am missing the connection? The parallel tracks do reconverge, but not in a way that resolves the tension. Perhaps, too, the lack of resolution is meant to drive me to read the third volume. It certainly feels like a dangling thread.
There's lots of great historical detail here and the story moves along very nicely. I will have to read the third volume to see whether Stevenson ties things together!… (more)
There's lots of great historical detail here and the story moves along very nicely. I will have to read the third volume to see whether Stevenson ties things together!… (more)
1 
kukulaj | 2 other reviews | Dec 5, 2019 |
kukulaj | 2 other reviews | Dec 5, 2019 | 
The pace of this book is rather measured, practically plodding. Our hero is a Calvinist minister, so I imagine the pace is quite fitting. Whether this is the skill of the author or a happy coincidence or maybe just the natural result of the author choosing a subject to her taste, the result is a happy harmony.
Over the years I have read a bit about the Prague defenestration etc. so I have some familiarity with the complicated politics that are a major part of the story. I suspect that even readers with little previous knowledge will successfully be guided through the maze by following the breadcrumbs offered in this book.
The alchemical structure of the main plot was a delightful surprise. The whole notion of an ex-slave marrying royalty I found rather absurd, but I went ahead and read the book just to see how it could be pulled off. I found it a wonderful success. Stranger things have happened, on similarly strange bases, I don't doubt! Robert Fludd, Michael Maier - splendid!
The book ends at a reasonable resting point, but hardly at the end of a story. Volume two waits on the shelf - not for long, I expect!… (more)
Over the years I have read a bit about the Prague defenestration etc. so I have some familiarity with the complicated politics that are a major part of the story. I suspect that even readers with little previous knowledge will successfully be guided through the maze by following the breadcrumbs offered in this book.
The alchemical structure of the main plot was a delightful surprise. The whole notion of an ex-slave marrying royalty I found rather absurd, but I went ahead and read the book just to see how it could be pulled off. I found it a wonderful success. Stranger things have happened, on similarly strange bases, I don't doubt! Robert Fludd, Michael Maier - splendid!
The book ends at a reasonable resting point, but hardly at the end of a story. Volume two waits on the shelf - not for long, I expect!… (more)
1 kukulaj | 6 other reviews | Nov 21, 2019 |
kukulaj | 6 other reviews | Nov 21, 2019 | Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 16
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 666
- Popularity
- #37,863
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 16
- ISBNs
- 59
- Languages
- 1
While set in contemporary London (well, almost contemporary, having been written in the dawn of the current century), it takes in a seventeenth century Greek church, historic sites around London and an ancient Greek manuscript. The contemporary aspects lie in the machinations of an ambitious and avaricious young lawyer who sees an opportunity to sequester a considerable fortune, aided and abetted by a pair of opportunistic Greeks, while the forces for good are represented by a capable and confident scholar assisted by an Australian woman financing her travails as a mature student by evening shifts in a central London pharmacy.
London itself plays a central role, with different parts of the city being rendered in affectionate detail. At times I was reminded of the opening scenes of J B Priestley’s Angel Pavement, while at others the book evoked Dickens. There are a couple of literary subplots, too.
All in all, it was highly entertaining, although occasionally it veered rather too close to the overly whimsical for my taste.… (more)