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The Sewer Demon (Scroll I of The Roman Mystery Scrolls): A Review for TCL Members
You already know and enjoy Caroline Lawrence’s Roman Mysteries, a seventeen-volume collection, which has been published in many countries and in many languages, and has inspired a CBBC series (now on DVD), quiz books, and now a new spin-off series for slightly younger readers. The Roman Mystery Scrolls takes off where the first collection ended, leading us into the ancient world of a younger child, a boy called Threptus, Ostian-born and a beggar-coming-good under the auspices of his soothsaying mentor Floridius.
The younger reader, and the Classicist of every age, is drawn into and around the streets of Ostia immediately through Lawrence’s detailed and flirtatious description, given for example in a lovely moment where Threptus, the clever mystery-solver, closes his eyes and hears and smells the familiar and less familiar characters of his home town. He highlights other passing individuals from their dress, and all of this has a combined effect where we are immersed, where the various pastimes, jobs and associations of those around us surround us entirely.
Illustrations by the wonderful Helen Forte (http://www.minimus-etc.co.uk/Portfolio/Portfolio.htm) give the page-turning text another warming and humorous perspective. Indeed humour abounds. How could it not in a tale about monsters in the sewers, written for readers of 7+? Aside from the ‘poo’, ‘pee’, ‘willy’ and farting references, as well as the horror of what one might meet in the drains below Ostia (‘or something worse?’), there is lovely wit here. Floridius only really swears once: ‘Pollux’, he says. I love the scatological and absurdly matter-of-fact exchange between Aphrodite the sacred chicken and the toilet duck.
Young and older readers are engaged and entertained. There are difficult words for the younger reader, such as ‘apotropaic’, but not only are these precisely what the younger reader should use a dictionary for, but they also develop understanding of the historical and societal context. The reader learns and is led on a path of discovery, not simply through plot and character and scene description by the author, but through their own sleuthing to understand every important detail, every clue. The more experienced classicist will enjoy Lawrence’s inspirations and references, from Ostia or elsewhere in important Roman archaeological sites: can you spot, for example, the Bocca della Verità in Rome, or the wall paintings of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii?
Children are destined (the chickens say so!) to enjoy growing up with Threptus, and in time they’ll enjoy, either for the first time or anew, the original Roman Mysteries series too.
Till the next instalment, VALE!
Published 2nd February 2012
ISBN 9781 444004557 (paperback) £5.99. Also available as an ebook at £3.49.
Caroline Lawrence’s Blog: http://www.romanmysteries.com/
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