Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

She chose love. The price she paid was war. A stunning combination of history and mythology - 'an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel' FINANCIAL TIMES READERS on LAVINIA: 'Utterly compelling' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Clever twist' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Super' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She caused hers by letting men who wanted her take her. I caused mine because I wouldn't be given, wouldn't be taken, but chose my man and my fate' Lavinia is the daughter of the King of Latium, a victorious warrior who loves peace; she is her father's closest companion. Now of an age to wed, Lavinia's mother favours her own kinsman, handsome, heroic, everything a young girl should want. Instead, Lavinia dreams of mighty Aeneas, a man she has heard of only from a ghost of a poet, who comes to her in the gods' holy place and tells her of her future, and Aeneas' past... If she refuses to wed her mother's choice, Lavinia knows she will start a war... 'Subtly moving, playful...a novel that brought me to tears more than once. Lavinia is a delightful heroine' GUARDIAN