Aniseed and Juniper

Title: Aniseed and Juniper
Author: G.S. Wiley
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: M/M Historical (Ancient Rome and Britain) Romance.
Length: 23 pages
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

THE BLURB

Marcus has a taste for the finer things. In second century Rome, that means extensive banquets, endless goblets of wine and multiple lovers of all genders and social classes. The good life comes to a crashing halt when his mother remarries a powerful senator with a desire to groom Marcus to be the son and heir he never had.

Consigned to the furthest outreaches of the Empire, Marcus has more than a lack of entertainment to worry about. Since childhood, he has been hiding a socially crippling disease, a curse from the gods. For years, he has been treating it with aniseed, but aniseed is in short supply in the frosty outposts along Hadrian’s Wall in northern Britannia. When disaster strikes, Marcus receives unexpected help from a truly unexpected source.

THE REVIEW

I was attracted to this short story not only because it is written by the consistently excellent GS Wiley (I’ve not read a bad story from her yet) but also because the setting – Roman Britain – seemed fresh and interesting.

It turns out that the first part of the story is actually mostly set in Rome, where out hero Marcus is the spoiled and indolent son of a celebrated Roman hostess. His mother is marrying for money and political alliance for the third time. Normally the men his mother marries have little or no impact on Marcus’ life but this time the senator is determined to make a man of Marcus by sending him to Britannia to stay with Marcus’ uncle Falconius.

Those of you who like a strong romantic plot in their stories may be a little disappointed with this story. Marcus does have a friend and neighbour in Rome with whom he shares his bed from time to time and then later there is the start of a friendship which will possibly lead to more with Briton Beacan. The romance though is very much on the back burner as this is more a story of contrasts and of life in Roman Britain. I found the abrupt ending slightly disconcerting and would have liked to see the relationship between Marcus and Beacan developed into something more. In some ways this short story reads like the beginning of a novel. We have the beginning in Rome where the scene is set for Marcus’ trip abroad, plus there is some foreshadowing involving Marcus’ illness. Then the action moves to Britain where Marcus meets a kindred spirit in Beacan. At this point the story ends, just as a novel would have begun to develop their relationship, which left me feeling like I’d been a bit cheated out of a longer story.

Having said that, I did enjoy the story up to that point. The contrast between Rome and Britain was the highlight of the story for me. Rome is warm, lush and full of luxuries and the pleasures of life for Marcus, all of which are described in accurate and loving detail. He is safe under the protection of his Mother who obviously cares a great deal for him, even though he is now a man. Britain, on the other hand, is cold and rainy with strange and different customs to things even as simple as eating.

Unlike in Rome, where anyone with the slightest hint of refinement ate lounging on padded benches, the food on low tables in front of them, Falconius and his wife were sitting upright in straight-backed chairs. The high table in front of them was about the right height for them to rest their forearms in front of them as they ate.

There are still many things which would be recognised as influenced by the Romans but the atmosphere is more relaxed and friendly in terms of relationships between classes of people. Marcus finds all this rather bewildering and is still finding his feet when the story ends. It was clear to me that the author had done her research as this came through in many incidental details about life in Britain and in Rome. I was drawn into the lives of the people in Britain and found that the attention to detail within the story made up some way for the lack of romance in the story.

Overall, this story would be attractive to those who like reading historical fiction and are looking for something with an unusual setting. I greatly enjoyed the story which was well written with solid characterisation in Marcus, Marcus’ mother and his uncle Falconius, and which had a wealth of description within the setting. Despite my reservations with the way that the story ends, this was a good read which I would recommend.