Anna of Byzantium (Laurel-Leaf Books)

Great inside look at Byzantium at the time of the Crusades and gives a different perspective of History than the usual Western view. Wish I had read this when working on my MA in Medieval history. Now reading Anna's ALEXIAD. enjoying her writing and getting to know her better.Found this book cover on Ancestry.com as a hint when researching my family tree and found she was my 25th great aunt.Tracy Barrett's style makes the book hard to put down and a most enjoyable read.

Engaging historical account of one of Europe's high achieving women. Raised in a royal household to be a ruler, Anna was later imprisoned by her power hungry brother. Her confinement / Imprisonment in a convent gave her the opportunity to record her memories of her Emperor father Alexius Comenus. Historians have acknowledged Anna as one of the most important historians of her age and melieu.

Anna of Byzantium transports the reader back to the time of the Byzantine empire through the perspective of the young heir to the throne, Anna Comnena. This book offers an intimate look at the inner workings of the royal family, including all the politics and work required by just being a royal. Anna of Byzantium was written by Tracy Barrett and was first published in 1998. It was her first novel and was received well. Barrett leads the reader through young Anna’s life as she is prepared for her duties as the future empress. Her whole world turns upside down when the throne is ripped out from underneath her by the hands of her power-hungry grandmother and younger brother. Plotting revenge, Anna waits for the right time to seize the throne and take back what is rightfully hers. The subsequent themes of pride, vanity, and revenge recur throughout the novel.Barrett uses a frame-narrative to describe what’s happening in the story. A frame narrative is essentially a story within a story. In this case, Anna’s fate is introduced at the beginning of the novel to set the stage for a more emphasized second narrative. The reader stays in the past and learns of the events leading up to the end of the story with the ending already in mind. This technique worked well with the story and helped build suspense and empathy for the characters.The story kept my interest throughout the novel. I never felt bored or anxious to get the book over with; I can genuinely say I enjoyed it. The characters were well developed and the ending of the story satisfied me. If there is one thing I could change, it would be more involvement and development of supporting characters. The princess only interacted with them when necessary, and there weren’t many details about their lifestyles or personalities. Other then that, I felt that the development of the main character, Anna, was well done. I believe the story to be historically accurate. I appreciated that at the end of the story, the author specified what exactly she had changed from fact to fiction.The intended audience for this book is middle and high schoolers. I myself am a high schooler, and I can say that Barrett did a wonderful job delivering a complex and interesting story from a time that isn’t frequently talked about. Anna’s development from vengeful, vain, and power-hungry to accepting, aware, and humble was enjoyable and relatable. At the beginning her sense of entitlement was irritating, but I found myself rooting for her towards the end. This is the mark of good storytelling. I found the book easy to navigate and enjoyable to read. I would recommend this book to a friend and I plan on reading it again.

I read this because it was assigned to my daughter to read for her 8th grade English class. I thought it was a great read! I'm looking for more situated in similar settings...for adult readers.

Very interestingly historical, yet able to involve the reader in the lives of the characters. Definitely holds the interest if you like history

An interesting read of the historical period in Constantinople during the Dark Ages written from the perspective of a Princess at court. Enjoyable and written well.

This story by Ms. Barrett is a good, but seriously flawed fictional account of the life of Anna Comnenus, a Byzantine princess during the medieval era. For those who like fiction with no connection to reality, (and the plethora of fantasy titles, sci-fi and other `historical fiction' tampering with the past on the market today, is a pretty good indication of such!) this is a noble effort, that comes very close to the real thing, but fails at the very point at which it could have made a good novel, a great one. The author's very good pacing of her storyline, her evocation of some of the elements of a Greco-Roman society, are all well executed- it is clear she is a respected writer (the American Library Association gave it awards, as did Booklist and Bulletin).But the reality of an [Greek] Orthodox culture and the suffusing of that faith in an overtly Christian realm that endured for over 1000 years, are completely missing in Barrett's novel- as are the realities of how deeply intertwined the Christianity of the Apostles and the Greek culture's dependence on them would have more than deeply influenced not only a royal such as Princess Comnena, but the entire court, far more than Barrett envisioned.The plot strikes me more as a `junior Lucretia Borgia' than a Byzantine monarch's first-born heir. What I mean is this: the intricacies of plotting, revenge, murder, poisoning and all the rest that were a hallmark of the Borgias- and Italian, Papal culture (including some Popes whose offices were bought and paid for by Borgia money!) are in far shorter supply in the Byzantine records, and are by and large totally foreign to an Orthodox phronema [mindset]. Not that they did not exist, mind you! But Barrett's confusion of Roman Catholic and Orthodox prayers, sacramentals, liturgy, and Weltanschauung are apparent to an informed reader, and all of this is tacitly glossed over, downplayed, or clearly absent [by omission rather than commission in the book?] which confuses an Orthodox reader seeking material for his children to have them learn their own history, and points out how such organizations such as the ALA and Booklist are woefully ignorant of world cultures, even though they preach `multiculturalism.' Such obfuscation is made even more obfuscated because of the cover art on the paperback edition, which alludes to some `inner sanctity' of the Princess, showing her with an iconic nimbus of sainthood, that NEVER appears in her actions, or in the pages of the book, nor can be gleaned from the history of the real ruler!Not once that I recall, is anyone found praying before an iconostasis, a foundational element of ANY truly Orthodox culture, nor are icons even mentioned! Nor is there any mention, allusion, or talk of one of the most astounding events of this era, namely the actions of the Roman schismatics, when Cardinal Humbert, acting as the Pope's henchman, came to Byzantium (Constantinople) with the `anathema' for the Orthodox, over their non-use of the `filioque' [`and the son'] clause in the Nicene Creed - an addition which the West inserted without canonical authority, and then accused the Byzantines of `omitting'- and it is this ONE event, which started the entire break between East and West Rome, which has yet to be healed, over one thousand years later!!! This is not a minor point in dealing with a fictionalized account of Byzance in the year 1100- it would be as if one were to write a fictional story of Lincoln, and not mention the fact that, under his rule, the Civil War took place! This is an example of pure Western hubris, and wilfull ignorance of another, equally valid culture!Modern writers are all seemingly afflicted with a skewed, adolescent, egotistical temperocentric view of history, [one that is stuck in only THIS century, and THIS era, as `normative' for all of history] and this is increasingly apparent in children's fiction- see my reviews of other historical fiction. Barrett's book is a good look into ego, pride, lack of Christian charity, and the machinations of power, but as a historical novel of either an Orthodox princess, land, or culture, it is severely lacking. Orthodox parents would especially need to do some `caveat emptor' before giving this novel to their children as a `good look' at their own culture.

I read this book to add to a lesson in World History class. I recommend it for 7th through 9th grade, but anyone would enjoy it. Especially if you like history. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope students will too.

Il libro è arrivato puntuale e in perfette condizioni.

We read this at our book club, and felt there was very good characterisation and character growth for a children's book. Most of the "action" happens in the second half of the book, so stick with it. It stays with you, and gives you a lot to think about. Was Anna better off where she ended up? Was her depiction of John correct given what we learn of him later - and in history? What do we make of her friendship with Sophia? We all utterly hated the toxic grandmother, but ultimately it was a feel-good book, and we scored it 7/10 (which is good for us - we're usually pretty harsh.)

Tracey Barrett has created an extremely competent reconstruction of the life of this Byzantine princess in the Middle Ages. She writes in the first person from Anna’s point of view, starting with her exile to a mountain convent at the age of 17, and reflecting on her imperial childhood and the events that led her there. She grew up expecting to rule, learning different skill sets and attitudes from two warring women: her mother and her paternal grandmother. However, she was set aside in favour of her brother John, for whom she had absolutely no respect, though in the epilogue Barrett says he actually became quite a beloved emperor. Barrett has changed history - as she says - by leaving out Anna’s marriage to soldier historian Nicophorus and the births of their children. Anna is famous among historians for the Alexiad, her 11 volume history of her father’s reign, a prime source of information about the period. This is a very useful book for understanding Anna and her period from an author who obviously has a good understanding of the times.

ビザンチン帝国（東ローマ帝国）の皇帝の世継ぎの皇女として生まれたAnna Comnena (1083-1153)の物語です。この当時戦争で不在がちの皇帝に代わって実権を握っていたのは、皇太后AnnaDalassenaでした。祖母に見込まれ将来の女帝として育てられた知的で勝気なAnnaが、宮廷内での権力争いに巻き込まれていく様子にハラハラドキドキします。Annaが一人称で物語るためか、皇太后Anna Dalassena以外のの登場人物が弱いです。また、児童書ということもあってか淡白な感じがします。

Well paced, intriguing, moving... an amazing little novel, recommended read for young and senior readers alike! I felt in Constantinople together with Anna.