Elisabeth Storrs Books In Order

Publication Order of Tales Of Ancient Rome Books

Publication Order of Short Tales Of Ancient Rome Books

Elisabeth Storrs is an Australian historical fiction author that is best known for the “Tale of Ancient Rome” series of novels. She had a long-standing interest in legends, myths, and history of the ancient world long before she became an author. She went to the University of Sydney from where she studied Classic and graduated with a degree in Arts Law. She got curious when she read about an Etruscan sarcophagus that depicted a couple in an eternal embrace which is how she discovered the legend of the wars between Republican Rome and the Etruscan Veii. It is from these stories that she got the inspiration she used to write the novels in her bestselling “A Tale of Ancient Rome” series. The debut novel of the series was the critically acclaimed “The Wedding Shroud” that she published in 2013 that went on to become one of her most popular works. She currently lives with her family in Sydney and has had quite a varied career as she has worked as a governance consultant, corporate lawyer, and solicitor. She once served as a director for Writing NSW and is a founder of the Australasia Historical Novel Society, an organization that runs the richest genre prize in the region.

Storrs loves to think of herself as a hybrid author given that she first started in Australia where she made her name before she became internationally famous. While she got her first titles in Australia published through traditional means, much of the work she has published internationally has been through self-publishing. Nonetheless, after garnering so much success, Lake Union publishers approached her with an international contract that should see her publish even more works in the coming years. Elizabeth Storrs’s novel “The Wedding Shroud” gained notoriety when it made the shortlist for the Best Kindle Book Award in 2012 and was runner up to the Sharp Writ Book Awards before getting an endorsement from Ursula Le Guin. The novel was also nominated for the CAL Waverly Library Award for Literature, the Barbara Jeffersi Award, the Nita B Kibble Award, and the Dobbie Literary Award. His second novel “The Golden Dice” was named a memorable read by Historical Novels Reviews’s Sarah Johnson and won the Chaucer Award by Chanticleer Reviews. “Call to Juno” the third novel in the series was also an award-winning title.

Elisabeth Storrs always wanted to become an author but the process took quite a long time. She researched and wrote her “Tale of Ancient Rome” series over more than fifteen years. She asserted that she wanted to capture the essence of Etruria, a sophisticated civilization that ultimately fell to Rome but still had a significant influence on the life and culture of Rome right from Republican up to Imperial times. She decided that she needed to explore the world of the Etruscans given that there is so little literature written on one of the most influential communities that predated Rome. She believes that her tertiary education provided both enlightenment and professional training. From her father, she came to develop a love for the classics and also the encouragement to think outside the box. However, she also loved courtroom drama and this is what led her to study law though she found memorizing case law quite boring once she started practicing. Elisabeth asserted that she has a brain that is both creative and analytical and since she needed to pay her mortgage, studying and practicing the law was a no brainer at the time. But even as she was practicing the law, she still loved to read historical fiction and non-fiction works. As such, the depiction of the husband and wife sarcophagus had such a profound effect that she knew she had to write about it. After learning about the context of the times, she became more interested in learning about the ancient society that would dare portray the sensual nature of man-woman relationships in such a poignant manner. The answer led her to research the Etruscans who were reviled in the ancient world as corrupt, wicked and decadent civilization since they allowed sexual freedom, education and independence to women.

Elizabeth Storrs’s “The Wedding Shroud” is the first novel of the “A Tale of Ancient Rome” series of novels. The novel is set in the fifth century, where Caecilia a young Roman woman gets married to an Etruscan named Vel Mastarna from the town of Veii. The marriage is meant to secure a tenuous truce between the two warring factions. Caecilia is determined to be true to her roots which she believes are superior to those of the decadent Etruscans. She had vowed to stay true to Rome when she left to get married but now that she is in the strange land of the Etruscans, the culture that provides women with sexual freedom, independence, education, and empowering religion may prove too powerful. She is enchanted by the culture but is terrified of losing her connection with her militaristic homeland. To postpone her entanglement into a seductive but inferior culture, she undergoes rites that will delay her motherhood. But further complicating matters is the fact that she is falling in love with her husband Mastarna, that leaves her torn between the city she now calls home and her ancestral homeland. With war looming, she learns that she needs to decide where her allegiance lies even as she discovers that fate is oftentimes unchangeable.

“The Golden Dice” by Elisabeth Storrs is an enthralling tale of corruption, romance, and political intrigue. The events take place during a bitter siege between Veii the Etruscan city and Rome as three women take different paths of survival. Caecilia is a Roman born woman that had been married to an Etruscan. She decides to leave her ancestral Roman homeland and go back to Vel Mastarna her husband. But in doing so, she is aligning herself with the Etruscans which means that if the city falls, she will be counted among the traitors to the Roman cause. A reckless servant named Semni who works for her husband gets herself entangled in schemes that put her chances at love and Caecilia’s son in danger. Meanwhile, a destitute Roman whore named Pinna uses coercion to get the attention of the most powerful Roman general. Every woman is determined to protect their interests and those they love as the war rages on. But challenging fate is a difficult business.

Elisabeth Storrs’s “Call to Juno” continues the stories of women caught up in the wars between the Etruscan Veii and Rome. For years, Caecilia has been torn between her adopted home city of Veii and her birthplace in Rome. Faced with the danger of losing her Etruscan freedoms, her children, and husband, she makes a desperate call to her adopted countrymen to destroy Rome. In the meantime, Pinna has moved up the ranks from prostitute to become one of the most powerful concubines of Camillus the Roman general. She is deeply in love but does she have the power to thwart the people who are threatening to expose her sordid past. Meanwhile, her friend and a former servant is seeking forgiveness so that she can finally marry the man she fell in love with. A Roman tribune named Marcus needs the strength to decide between his fidelity to Rome and his cousin Caecilia.