"Lavinia" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The story of Rome's origins goes farther back than Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a she-wolf and eventually founded the city. The legend of Rome extends all the way back to the Trojan War and to Aeneas, a Trojan who escaped the fall of Troy and sailed to Italy to establish a new home for his people. Vergil wrote Aeneas' story in his great epic, the Aeneid . But he only touches on the union that made Aeneas' settlement in Italy possible-his marriage to the daughter of the King of the Latins, Lavinia. Lavinia is a cipher in Roman history and legend, but without her Rome never would have been. Ursula K. Le Guin , who is known for fantasy, writes an account of Lavinia's life in prose that reads more like a poem and fiction that is so well-written that it seems like autobiography. If you are a lover of mythology and heroes, you will enjoy Lavinia immensely.