Renault's novels fall into two distinct periods, the first comprising several short psychological melodramas written during and after the Second World War and noteworthy for their offbeat themes, excellent structure, and sharp characterization. Her second period consists of historical novels covering various stages of ancient Greek history. Each volume in this series has resulted in an increase in Renault's reputation and popularity. Her recent novels on the life of Alexander the Great, atypically panoramic in scope, romantic in theme, and controversial, were immensely popular and represented a major shift in her main character focus by dealing directly with a figure who had immense impact on his age and on history.

The Praise Singer is less ambitious in scope and represents a return to Renault's earlier formula of selecting a relatively obscure but representative historical figure and telling his tale against a backdrop of personalities and politics during a...