The Leto Bundle

A sensual, compelling new novel inspired by dramatic chronicles, contemporary events, and the tragic figure of a woman-goddess in permanent exileRoom XIX of the Museum of Albion doesn't usually have many visitors. But when a huge crowd of dispossessed immigrants and homeless gather to see a mummy that has recently been moved, political pressure mounts, and the curator must reveal the mystery behind the locked door. To the passionate young man who has adopted the mummy as a figurehead, the curator explains that the once secret exhibit is a bundle of rare objects and intriguing documents that tell of the wanderings of an unknown woman named Leto. Marina Warner's magical new novel weaves together the story of this ancient goddess and eternal refugee with the drama of the curator, her new friend, and the people whose lives will be transformed by The Leto Bundle.As Leto moves westward across the map from her first home, she slips through time, reappearing in different guises and ever on the run. She gives birth to twins during a far-off era of civil strife, shelters with wolves, stows away on a ship, works as a chambermaid in a war-torn city, and, in a bombing attack, saves her daughter but loses her son. The novel sweeps from mythological times to the Middle Ages, to Victorian Europe, and then to the present day, when Leto reappears, still searching, of course, for her long-lost son. "The Leto Bundle" retells the story of the eternal refugee in a magical modern novel of huge scope and imaginative force.

Review :
"The novel [of 2001] that most challenges the basic conventions of fiction is Marina Warner's "The Leto Bundle" . . . [it] has long stretches of sheer narrative bliss."--Edmund White, "The Observer Review," "Books of the Year"""The Leto Bundle" is not an historical novel in any conventional sense. By jettisoning the constraints of time and place, and setting part of the novel in late-twentieth-century Albion, an imaginary country that bears a close resemblance to Britain, Warner stresses the continuities between past and present, whilst emphasising the timelessness of her themes . . . Driven by a mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the final pages, "The Leto Bundle" has the verve and immediacy of an e-mail. At the same time, it is beautifully written, the language rich and sensuous, with a seductive range of references . . . tremendous fun, with a well-drawn cast of characters."--Pamela Norris," Literary Review""Leto becomes the archetypal refugee. Her story reflects the underside of western civilization . . . Warner creates a collage that is both panoramic and subversive . . . "The Leto Bundle" embodies the gusto, independence and intensity of a vision, demanding judgment on its own terms or not at all."--Ruth Scurr," The Times Literary Supplement"