The Cemetery of the Hesperides, by Lindsey Davis

The Hesperides were nymphs from Greek mythology who guarded a dazzling garden that appeared like an oasis in North Africa.

In this book The cemetery of the Hesperides, the supposed garden becomes that, in a cemetery. Flavia Albia, daughter of Marco Didio Falco, star character of this author, participates in the discovery of the body of a young innkeeper who died some time ago.

Despite the fact that Flavia could ignore the discovery to continue giving herself to her comfortable life with Manlio Fausto, with whom she plans to marry, the truth is that the appearance of the corpse ends up touching a sensitive chord that prompts her to know more about the ill-fated young man who was roughly buried in the garden.

From her powerful social stratum, Flavia leads herself through the infernal spaces of the deepest Rome, where people savor the bitter moral troubles of their destinies. It is then when the author shows off her vast knowledge of this historical period to lavish on details as fascinating as they are rugged, of a reality that undoubtedly accompanied the deepest life of the imperial city.

Dinky canteens where women begged for sex for survival, where violence became law and existence could only come about through pacts with the devil, the only one who seemed to establish some kind of pattern in that underworld.

Flavia faces the fragility of life. And despite the fact that the easiest, natural and proper thing would be to return with her loved ones, to that world of light, entertainment and good manners, she ends up discovering that something links her to that remote space of perdition. It only remains for him to entrust himself to the gods so as not to end up succumbing in that underworld.

You can buy the book The cemetery of the Hesperides, the latest novel by Lindsey Davis, here: