The Rover

By Aphra Behn

Faithful and handsome, the Englishman Belvile is in love with the Italian lady Florinda, who is betrothed to another. Willmore, the rover, is in love with Hellena, sister of Florinda and destined for the convent. And Angellica Bianca, a courtesan, is in love with Willmore. Against the backdrop of Naples during Carnival time, this varied cast of characters pursue life, honour, and pleasure in this comedic drama.

Author and playwright Aphra Behn created a clearly male-centric world in The Rover, but does not dismiss the power of her female characters, who are willing to go to extreme measures to fulfill their desires. The Rover was written for profit at a time when Behn had lost her source of income, but became one of the most popular plays of the Restoration era, and it is still studied and widely performed in modern times.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443437707

Aphra Behn

Born in the first few decades of the seventeenth century, Aphra Behn is one of early literature’s best-known female writers. Behn had the lucky distinction of being able to support herself strictly by her “pen,” something unheard of for women of her time. Throughout her long career, she wrote in various forms—poetry, plays, prose—and is known as a member of the ‘fair triumvirate of wit’ alongside fellow scribes Eliza Haywood and Delarivier Manley. Although little is known about her early life, Behn’s father held a post as lieutenant governor of Surinam, and Behn’s experiences during her stay most likely formed the basis for her most famous work, Oroonoko. Behn was also a popular dramatist in her time, penning critical successes like The Rover and The Feigned Courtesans. Her literary exploits aside, Behn is also known to have acted as a political spy for King Charles II of England during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Behn died in 1689, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Reviews for The Rover

[jnogal_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As an adult, I enjoyed this story, but the part of the book when Hekja is captured (instead of killed) by the Vikings is very gruesome and it includes seeing her own mother killed. There's a lot of blood in that part of the book. There's also another battle scene toward the end of the book, as well as inferences to other more mature themes. I wouldn't reccomend this book to anyone younger than 13.

[scote23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the nominees for the Maine Student Book Award. It was a okay book. I prefer her one of her picture books, Diary of a Wombat. The author also uses footnotes throughout the book to clarify certain Viking terms that might be confusing. I could see why maybe teachers would really like this, but I found it to be a bit distracting.

The book is called Rover, which is the name of the dog. The main character is Hekja, the dog's owner. She lives a quiet life on an island until it is attacked by Vikings. She manages to outrun almost everyone but is captured by Freja and taken as a thrall. What happens to her after she is captured is the basis of the rest of the book. There is some mild romance at the end, which I sort of knew was going to happen the second the male character was introduced. There is sort of a romantic rival, and he is really easily done away with.

I do not think this book will win at all.

[heidi001 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about a young Scottish girl, Hekja and her dog, Rikki Snarfari who are kidnapped by Vikings and taken with them on long voyages to Iceland and beyond to Vinland. It is based on real people and events that happened around 1000 A.D. that are told in the famous Icelandic sagas. Even though I read this book to review it for Young Adult readers, I really enjoyed reading it because I love to read Nordic and European tales set in this era. The author does an excellent job of bringing that era to life for the younger reader. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in strong female characters and adventure. However, the author doesn’t hold back on realistic depictions of violence and the harsh realities of life during that time. I found that I was a bit squeamish at some points in the book and think because of those I would recommend that this book be read by kids older than 13.