THE PLOT: ‘The Persian Boy’ by Mary Renault is historical fiction about Alexander the Great through the eyes of his lover Bagoas. Around 340BC, Bagoas is a young aristocratic Persian boy. When his fathers’ enemies invade their noble home, Bagoas is abducted, sold into slavery and forcibly castrated. He works as a eunuch and sex slave, ultimately becoming courtesan to King Darius. But, when Alexander of Macedon invades Persia and overthrows King Darius, Bagoas’s only hope is to enchant his new master. The beautiful young eunuch gains Alexander’s confidence and they fall in love while Alexander builds an empire that stretches from Greece to India.

SUMMARY: This intensely detailed work of historical fiction is admirable but slightly dull. Published in 1972, the description of endless battles feels like the author is trying to sex up Callisthenes and Herodotus for a (broadly) modern audience. While this is somewhat compelling – although I found it very slow, I kept coming back to it – I wanted Bagoas to have more of a storyline. As a witness to history, Bagoas often starting his descriptions with a caveat of ‘what he saw’ or ‘did not see’. Therefore, it feels like he’s reporting what’s happening to Alexander, rather than living his own story. This is my first Mary Renault novel and I didn’t realise it’s the second book in a trilogy until I was 100-pages in. This probably affected my reading of the book, but I have no desire to go back and start from the beginning. Three stars for effort and historical achievement, but not a reading experience I’d want to relive.

GOOD BITS: The opening 150 pages were the most interesting. There were high stakes as Bagoas went from a noble boy to a sex slave, and I was concerned for how he would survive the conquest of Persia. Once Alexander and Bagoas were together, I felt Bagoas was an interesting literary device through which to view Alexander the Great’s exploits. The love between them is palpable and tender, and Bagoas’ reporting of the conquest allows for a sympathetic exploration of Alexander’s character. The tension between Hephaiston (Alexander’s boyhood lover) and Bagoas was also interesting, and I liked the inclusion of Alexander’s marriages (to add further love rivals for Bagoas).

NOT SO GOOD BITS: Although I enjoyed this novel, it quickly became repetitive. For me, the most interesting aspect of the novel was how Bagoas stood by King Darius when he was losing the war. I think this felt like real stakes and tension. But once Alexander and Bagoas were together and in love, they’d endlessly travel somewhere on campaign and fight a few people. At most, someone would get hurt, but generally it’d be OK in the end. Alexander would win and then they’d need to travel somewhere else and fight some more people and on and on. It felt like the novel built to Alexander and Bagoas’ relationship forming, but then stayed at the same pitch for 200 pages.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel and ‘The Silence of the Girls’ by Pat Barker. If you like detailed historical novels with sombre tones that focus on accuracy rather than storytelling, this would be great for you. I’d also highly recommend it to someone studying Classics or Ancient History who wants put their learning of the hellenistic world into context.

You can purchase this book with a discount, and support aminasbookshelf, on my bookshop.org page.