The Leto Bundle - Hardcover

Warner, Marina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374185484 ISBN 13: 9780374185480

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002

Synopsis

A sensual, compelling new novel inspired by dramatic chronicles, contemporary events, and the tragic figure of a woman-goddess in permanent exile

Room XIX of the Museum of Albion doesn't usually have many visitors. But when a huge crowd of dispossessed immigrants and homeless gather to see a mummy that has recently been moved, political pressure mounts, and the curator must reveal the mystery behind the locked door. To the passionate young man who has adopted the mummy as a figurehead, the curator explains that the once secret exhibit is a bundle of rare objects and intriguing documents that tell of the wanderings of an unknown woman named Leto. Marina Warner's magical new novel weaves together the story of this ancient goddess and eternal refugee with the drama of the curator, her new friend, and the people whose lives will be transformed by The Leto Bundle.

As Leto moves westward across the map from her first home, she slips through time, reappearing in different guises and ever on the run. She gives birth to twins during a far-off era of civil strife, shelters with wolves, stows away on a ship, works as a chambermaid in a war-torn city, and, in a bombing attack, saves her daughter but loses her son. The novel sweeps from mythological times to the Middle Ages, to Victorian Europe, and then to the present day, when Leto reappears, still searching, of course, for her long-lost son.

The Leto Bundle retells the story of the eternal refugee in a magical modern novel of huge scope and imaginative force.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“An extraordinary novel... breathtaking in its scope and ambition... An enthralling read.” – Sunday Express

“Driven by a mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the final pages... Beautifully written, the language rich and sensuous, with a seductive range of references... Tremendous fun.” – Literary Review

“Stimulating... vivid... a fascinating debate about the nature of mythology.” – Financial Times

“A compelling and erudite meditation on exiles, refugees, loss and the search for a home. A timely, ambitious and inventive novel, which blends a reflection on Europe’s past and present traumas with rare story-telling verve.” – Scotland on Sunday

From the Inside Flap:

On the run, in a far-off era of civil strife, the goddess Leto gives birth to twins, shelters with wolves, survives in a desert stronghold, stows away on a ship and then works as a maid in a war-torn city. She loses her son but saves her daughter during a long siege. The novel sweeps from mythological times into the present day and Leto reappears in different guises, eventually as a servant to a rock singer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0374185484
• ISBN 13: 9780374185480
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384