Introduction
This bibliography resource guide will help you find more information at UBC Library and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre on the history of classical and ancient Greece that would complement your reading of Annabel Lyon’s Sweet Girl. The guide draws mainly on the collection in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division at Koerner Library, as well as the Rare Books and Special Collections at the Learning Centre, but also includes other materials found in the other Divisions of the UBC Library.
Sweet Girl
From the award-winning author of The Golden Mean,a captivating, wholly transporting new novel that follows Aristotle’s strong-willed daughter as she shapes her own destiny: an unexpected love story, a tender portrait of a girl and her father, and an astonishing journey through the underbelly of a supposedly enlightened society.
Aristotle has never been able to resist a keen mind, and Pythias is certainly her father’s daughter: besting his brightest students, refusing to content herself with a life circumscribed by the kitchen, the loom, and, eventually, a husband. Into her teenage years, she is protected by the reputation of her adored father, but with the death of Alexander the Great, her fortunes suddenly change. Aristotle’s family is forced to flee Athens for a small town, where the great philosopher soon dies, and orphaned Pythias quickly discovers that the world is not a place of logic after all, but one of superstition. As threats close in on her—a rebellious household, capricious gods and goddesses—she will need every ounce of wit she possesses, and the courage to seek refuge where she least expects it.
Facilitator Bio
Annabel Lyon is the chair of the UBC Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing’s Online Distance program. Annabel published her first book, Oxygen, a collection of stories, in 2000. The Best Thing for You, a collection of three novellas, followed in 2004 and was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She has written two books for children, All Season Edie (2009) and Encore Edie (2010). Her first novel, The Golden Mean, was published in 2009 to great acclaim. It held the distinction of being the only book nominated that year for all three of Canada’s major fiction prizes: the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Of the three, she won the Rogers Prize. The book has been translated into multiple languages. Her second novel, The Sweet Girl, a sequel to The Golden Mean, was published in fall, 2012.
Meet and Greet:
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Book Discussion:
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Location:
Cecil Green Park House – Map
University of British Columbia
6251 Cecil Green Park Road
Vancouver, B.C.
Registration:
For more information about registration, please find here.
Search Strategies
With a rich and vast collection, UBC Library encompasses a number of books, videos, and other relevant resources on classical and ancient Greece. The easiest way to find this material is to use the UBC Library Catalogue (www.library.ubc.ca). One recommended search strategy is to use Subject search option. From the catalogue option, select Subject from the drop-down menu, and enter any of the following headings:
Aristotle–Fiction.
Greece–History–Macedonian Expansion, 359-323 B.C.–Fiction.
Books by Author at UBC Library
Sweet Girl by Annabel Lyon. (2012). Toronto: Random House. [Available at Koerner Library – PS8573.Y62 S94 2012]
Imagining ancient women by Annabel Lyon. (2012). Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. [Available at Okanagan Libarary – PN3377.5.H57 L96 2012]
Encore Edie by Annabel Lyon. (2011). Toronto: Puffin Canada. [Available at Education Library – PZ7.L995264 En 2011]
The golden mean: a novel by Annabel Lyon. (2009). Toronto: Random House. [Available at Koerner Library – PS8573.Y62 G65 2009]
Scholarly Resources at UBC Library
Charles Freeman (1996). Egypt, Greece and Rome. Oxford University Press. [Available online]
Paul MacKendrick (1962). The Greek Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Greek Lands. St. Martin’s Press. [Available at Koerner Library – DF77 .M17]
Research Guides
Open Access Learning Resources
The Canadian Museum of Civilization—Greece Secrets of the Past
Ancient Greece website from the British Museum
Economic history of ancient Greece
Limenoscope, an ancient Greek ports database
The Ancient Theatre Archive, Greek and Roman theatre architecture
Illustrated Greek History, Dr. Janice Siegel, Department of Classics, Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia