The Praise Singer
A Virago Modern Classic
Published on 15. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-349-01862-1 (ISBN)
Description
AN ODYSSEY OF ART AND POWER, BY THE CLASSIC QUEEN OF ANCIENT GREEK RETELLINGS
'Mary Renault is an exceptional storyteller' CHARLOTTE MENDELSON
'A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description' WALL STREET JOURNAL
Each generation has its own dream of beauty. I have lived long enough to watch it change.
At a local wedding on the isle of Keos, farmer's son Simonides is mesmerised by the performance of a renowned Ionian bard. Simonides' own voice is as beautiful as his appearance is ugly, yet his singing has been confined to hours spent alone in the mountains. But now, seeing a way to a new life, he begs to become the singer's apprentice.
Before long, his fame propels him to the heart of classical Greece in fifth century BC - a time of political upheaval, of Athenian tyrants, Persian invaders and pirate kings. As art and power intertwine, Simonides must use all his wit and talent to compete with his flamboyant rival, Anacreon, and keep his songs alive.
'Her characters live vividly in their own time, and in ours' MADELINE MILLER
'As a historical novelist witing about the ancient world, Mary Renault has few peers' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'Mary Renault is an exceptional storyteller' CHARLOTTE MENDELSON
'A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description' WALL STREET JOURNAL
Each generation has its own dream of beauty. I have lived long enough to watch it change.
At a local wedding on the isle of Keos, farmer's son Simonides is mesmerised by the performance of a renowned Ionian bard. Simonides' own voice is as beautiful as his appearance is ugly, yet his singing has been confined to hours spent alone in the mountains. But now, seeing a way to a new life, he begs to become the singer's apprentice.
Before long, his fame propels him to the heart of classical Greece in fifth century BC - a time of political upheaval, of Athenian tyrants, Persian invaders and pirate kings. As art and power intertwine, Simonides must use all his wit and talent to compete with his flamboyant rival, Anacreon, and keep his songs alive.
'Her characters live vividly in their own time, and in ours' MADELINE MILLER
'As a historical novelist witing about the ancient world, Mary Renault has few peers' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-349-01862-1 (9780349018621)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Mary Renault (1905-1983) was born in London and educated at St Hughs, Oxford. She trained as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she met her lifelong partner, Julie Mullard. Her first novel, Purposes of Love, was published in 1937. In 1948, after North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time - in her masterpiece, The Charioteer (1953), and then in her first historical novel, The Last of the Wine (1956). Renault's vivid novels set in the ancient world brought her worldwide fame. In 2010 Fire From Heaven was shortlisted for the Lost Booker of 1970.