What is the author's style in Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar?

Critically acknowledged as a tour de force in the genre of historical fiction, Memoirs of Hadrian has been described by the author as "a psychological novel and meditation on history."

Attempting to explore the aesthetic boundaries of the human condition while assimilating the configuration of absolute power, the novel literally creates a portrait of its central character, the Emperor Hadrian, as well as the Roman Empire of the second century. Written in the form of a letter by Hadrian to his adopted grandson and eventual successor, Marcus Aurelius, Memoirs of Hadrian allows the protagonist to ruminate on the circumstances of his life and more importantly the inevitability of his death. The author of essentially a self-analytical autobiography, Hadrian is at once addressing his own mortality while orchestrating the exchange of authority and the transference of experience by composing a philosophical treatise on the nature of man, art, beauty, love, and statesmanship.

Rooted in historical fact, Memoirs of Hadrian is an artistic composite of scholarship and imagination. The character of Hadrian is conceived to represent the reflection of modern man in the mirrored image of antiquity. Born in A.D. 76, Hadrian succeeded his uncle, Ulpius Trajanus, as emperor in A.D. 117 and during a reign of more than two decades, incorporated intuition and intellect into effective leadership responsible for constructive public achievement, political stability, economic reform, and cultural appreciation. In essence, the novel exposes the dichotomy of Hadrian: man and emperor. Wise and inexpedient, compassionate and impassioned, humanistic and callous, Hadrian is by nature and position a singular entity; however, his sense of detachment is simultaneously a strength and a weakness, responsible in part for a reign threatened by animosity and rebellion. Determined "to enter into death with open eyes," Hadrian attempts to reveal the private person hidden behind the public image as a final act to measure his sense of accomplishment.