Excellent fictional biography of Empress Theodora from her early life until her coronation. I think this may be one of the best fictional works concerning her. I'm looking forward to the concluding volume. ( )

Loved it

Kept me interested from start to finish. I knew nothing about this woman but she was amazingly strong, intelligent and ambitious. I liked that it told two stories and was a constant page turner. I can't wait for the next book. ( )

Pretty good despite only covering the first half of Theodora's life. I feel that the story is stretched out a tad too long, given that not that much is known about her background before becoming empress. ( )

In Fortune's Child, the reader is transported back to the Byzantine Empire beginning in 500 AD. Settle in for the ride, because you won't want to put this book down. It was a two-day read for me. I have read and recommend the author's other works (including the Poland Trilogy, also based on true events.) He gets better with each new book, which says a lot because the others are good. This story stands by itself, and is also based on a real historical figure, Empress Theodora, who I knew nothing about. James Conroyd Martin has done an incredible amount of research to paint with words a rich and unique picture of the time. He brings the time period, and Theodora alive, and uses a clever storytelling angle and narrator. No spoilers. If you love historical fiction, this book is for you. And if you really like it, a sequel is in the works. I can't wait to read it.

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Fortune’s Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora by James Conroyd Martin is a historical novel about a woman, born to a circus bear keeper in Constantinople, who used her wits and good looks to become the wife of the ruler of the empire. Mr. Martin is the award-winning novelist living in Hollywood, CA.

The story is told through the eyes of Stephen, a good looking Syrian Eunuch, who befriends Theodora well before she became empress. Theodora asks Stephen to write her biography so her enemies won’t get the last historical word, and so the story begins.

We follow Theodora through childhood, daughter to window trying to make ends meet. Teenage and adulthood where the beautiful woman finds the bug of acting, but does not shy away from prostitution. She ties her fortunes to an upperclassman who has been given a governorship in Africa, but quickly finds out that meddling in affairs of the state will not earn her any friends. Broke and alone Theodora returns to Constantinople to see what the future holds.

This book should be an example of how to write a description to sell a book. On top of that, Fortune’s Child: A Novel of Empress Theodora by James Conroyd Martin lives up to its expectations as a vivid, well researched historical fiction.

I knew nothing about Empress Theodora , wife of Emperor Justinian I and probably the most powerful woman in Byzantine history, but she sounded very intriguing and like all good history, it’s something that you simply just can’t make up. The story switches between first and third person narratives, between past and present but the author made it all work and I never got lost.

I thought that the storytelling device, Theodora asking Stephen, to write her biography was a smart choice. It allowed the author to include or exclude any information, since Theodora wants to glorify herself and omit any unfavorable events, while Stephen is free to share with the readers his experiences outside of Theodora’s spin or echo chamber.

The one thing I thought was missing from the book was the political games she must have played, the author put some in it but he was more interested in telling her story from a human point of interest instead of her intelligence and political acumen . There is another book in the works which will complete the story and I am looking forward to find out more about this interesting historical persona. ( )