Book Review of historical Far Away Bird by Douglas Burton

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Read about the book and review below.
On March 3 return to read a special article:Empress Theodora and the Origin of Women’s Rights

By Douglas A. Burton

Far Away Bird

Douglas Burton

Historical romance

February 2020

Silent Music Press

394 pp

ISBN 978-1733022101

Ebook $7.99

Print $16.95

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About the Book

Inspired by true events, Far Away Bird delves into the complex mind of Byzantine Empress Theodora. This intimate account deftly follows her rise from actress-prostitute in Constantinople's red-light district to the throne of the Byzantine Empire.

Her salacious past has left historians blushing and uncomfortable. Tales of her shamelessness have survived for centuries, and yet her accomplishments as an empress are unparalleled. Theodora goes on to influence sweeping reforms that result in some of the first ever Western laws granting women freedom and protection. More than a millennium before the women's rights movement, Theodora, alone, took on the world's greatest superpower and succeeded. Far Away Bird goes where history classrooms fear to tread in hopes that Theodora can finally take her seat among the greatest women in history.

Theodora seems impossible—yet her transcendence teaches us that society can't tell us who we are deep down. Before there was a legendary empress, there was a conflicted young woman from the lower classes.

And her name was Theodora.

My review

Great Rome has fallen a generation earlier, yet the Empire, the myth, undulates onward across Eurasia and Africa, a headless snake with the power still to crush. Burton sets his epic, heroine-centric, fictional biography of 6th century world-changing Empress Theodora in Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, Turkey. The title’s theme echoes throughout the narrative as Theodora observes and bonds with the idyllic freedom of a bird.

Faithfully and lavishly researched, Burton brings these people to life in a way that is true to culture and time, yet without creating a history lesson for his readers. Please be aware that the author spares little when it comes to the sexual depravity of the era, and Theodora’s life as a prostitute. Especially because of this lifestyle, Theodora joins a political underground movement as an informer. With a frail emperor and even frailer empire, it would be easy to usurp power. Justinian, son of the man closest to the emperor, means to keep the succession to the throne in the best interest of the empire.

Justinian and his adopted father/uncle, Justin, rose to power from humble means. They don’t mean to flaunt that power nor abuse it and are willing to do anything, even hire prostitutes as spies, to ensure the empire isn’t splintered into the political factions that will ultimately destroy the centuries of Roman dogmatism. One of these prostitutes enlightens Justinian to the realities of common life; the true plight of the empire’s subjects. They are drawn to each other, yet Justinian attempts to keep his distance and focus on his mission. Theodora, however, isn’t content to let the world of powerful men subjugate women and through her circumstances begins to manipulate both the ruler and the rules of the world.

In her role as spy, Theodora attracts the attention of the nephew of the emperor, the weak Hypatius. Burton writes, “Theodora had two men who needed her, she thought, two men who loved her, yet neither man could touch her, one out of weakness, the other out of strength.” Hypatius has knowledge of an insurrection and agrees to meet with Justinian in exchange for protection.

Theodora’s understanding of the world is revelatory. Burton notes: “They called this devastating weapon (political control) democracy, the Greek way, the old way. And they used this ancient tradition to bludgeon any man who dared to wear a crown and declare himself their ruler. A Roman emperor was a foreign title, after all, brought into the East from a failed regime whose mother city of Rome was already dead. The eastern populace was mostly Greek, not Roman; they never asked to become a Roman capital; the people couldn’t have known that the West would collapse and they alone would be tasked with the survival of the Roman Empire. Many still resisted the idea of imperial order. And it was this resistance, this process, and these people that Theodora tried so desperately to understand in the late hours.”

Burton deftly weaves the known facts of Theodora’s life into a pleasing tapestry, melding her various dwelling stops about the empire into a triumph of maturity and ultimately Christianity through her interaction with the Alexandrian pope. Returning eventually to Justinian and Constantinople, Theodora proves that laws are not meant to be broken frivolously, but rewritten. She, a woman, fights for a more democratic society and the ability of people, men and women, to rise out of their circumstances, much as Justinian had done. This book is about Theodora’s early life. Although the reader is not left hanging and the story ends with an appropriate conclusion, the saga continues.

Told through Theodora’s eyes in distant third person, Burton never falls into dry staleness. The book itself is beautifully designed and a pleasure to read.

About the Author

Douglas Alan Burton is a speaker, author, and expert storyteller whose work depicts heroic figures and their deeper connection to the human experience. Doug blogs about heroes, heroines, and villains in pop culture with some unexpected and refreshing perspective. He grew up in what he describes as "the heroic boyhood culture of late Generation X" that has gone mainstream around the world. He also shares strategies with fellow writers for writing compelling heroic characters in fiction.

Douglas recently began outlining a breakthrough storytelling model that reveals a fascinating "heroine-centric" model for story structure he calls The Heroine's Labyrinth. He believes a powerful new archetype is emerging for women in fiction. His novel, Far Away Bird, which centers on the early life of Byzantine Empress Theodora, won the 2019 Manuscript Content for Historical Fiction from the Writers' League of Texas. Follow Doug on Facebook and Twitter and stay in the conversation, and follow his blog at www.douglasaburton.com

Douglas A. Burton is on a crusade to introduce Theodora to as many people as possible. His award-winning novel, Far Away Bird, which details Theodora’s early life, is available in paperback (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) and as an amazing audiobook (Audible.com, iTunes, Author Republic). Learn more at douglasaburton.com.