An (Academic) Review of Claire Heywood’s The Wandering Queen
This past summer, I was working on the final edits of a chapter I am writing for a forthcoming book on the figure of Dido. My chapter is on modern adaptations of Dido, and as I was taking a well needed Instagram break when I saw a post about a newly announced book by Claire Heywood, titled The Wandering Queen . And I knew immediately it was about Dido. If you know me well, you know I love Dido. Her famous description, dux femina facti (“woman leader of the deed,” Aen. 1.364), is my handle on every social media platform. I even have dux femina facti tattooed on my collarbone. So of course I was excited, but also sad, because the book would not come out in time for my chapter literally on modern adaptations of Dido. The chapter was due the next day, already extended by a month, so even if I could somehow get early access, I could not ask for any more time. But that didn’t stop me. I shot my shot, and DMed the author on Instagram. I explained that I was a scholar of Augu...
