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Reviewed by Carine Engelbrecht for Readers' Favorite
To the ancient Romans, Vestal virgins represented the very personification of feminine purity. But when one of their number is accused of sex with a man, scandal erupts. In a city dealing with the aftermath of a crushing defeat against Hannibal's army, this shocking revelation demands punishment. In a world where the divine calm of the near-stoic Vestal virgins is a wafer-thin barrier against the volatile superstitions of the general populace, the youthful Opimia Pansa seems like a convenient scapegoat. But when Mia, the accused, learns of a ruthless conspiracy behind her accusation, she demands the right to defend herself. The Cleansing by Victoria Alvear tells a fictionalized version of this real historical figure's story in a tense courtroom drama set in ancient Rome during the Republican period.
The setting is alien to our perception, but also strangely relatable. The manipulation of belief and rumor finds a powerful echo in the present-day influence of social media. As in our world, there is a continuum from belief to skepticism that brings the inner worlds of several key characters to life, making them so much more than caricatures of history. But the theme that permeates everything is the role of women. In The Cleansing, Victoria Alvear tracks the degrees of disempowerment between a wife and a priestess, and between women and men. It compares the scrutiny to which all women are subject against the ease with which a man can shrug off accountability for crimes or falsehoods and shows how the powerful can gaslight society with impunity. Mia is a likable heroine whose story is authentic. At times, the suspense is truly nail-biting. At the back of the book, there is a detailed appendix that puts the story in its historical context.
