The Scent of Hyacinth

The Scent of Hyacinth weaves a romantic adventure around the legend of Numa Pompilius, Rome's second king, and a water nymph named Egeria. Tradition ran that Egeria was the mistress of wise King Numa, that he consorted with her in the secrecy of a sacred grove, and that the laws which he gave the Romans were inspired by communion with her divinity. Prima, the daughter of assassinated King Romulus, holds precariously onto the reins of power and survives the dangerous machinations of ambitious senators only by advancing her friend Numa Pompilius to the heights of government. Numa, whose training as a religious scholar intensifies his innate distaste for politics, decries the intrigues and power plays that accost him in Rome. With divine advice from his mistress, this gentle lawgiver brings an end to war and institutes the priesthood, augurs and vestals for the rough-edged Romans. "The Arms of Quirinus would be a respectable work on any shelf with The Bull from the Sea or Whom the Gods Would Destroy. What Mary Renault, Robert Graves, and others did so skillfully, Goff is emulating in her own distinct way in her Seven Kings novels."-William Howard Denson III (Writers Festival)