Caesar’s Wife Must Be Above Suspicion

“What if Julius Caesar had lived? The world might look different today, but in this intriguing novel, MacQueen focuses on the days and weeks after the famous Ides, when the would-be assassins are put on trial for their lives—and who should defend them but Cicero! Get ready to enjoy the grittiness of HBO’s Rome combined with the courtroom rhetoric of Perry Mason.”


—David Konstan, Professor of Classics, New York University





“MacQueen’s richly detailed reimagining of the greatest crisis of the Roman Republic is historically authentic, psychologically penetrating, and rendered in bright, clear prose. We follow Caesar, Cicero, Pompey, Brutus, Calpurnia, Antony, Cleopatra, and others through the twists of a highly compelling plot, as men more courageous and public spirited than us—alas!—fight to preserve the precious freedom and dignity bequeathed by their forefathers. This splendid and timely novel is historical fiction at its best.”


—Jacob Howland, author of Glaucon’s Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato’s Republic





“Caesar’s Wife Must Be Above Suspicion is a well-constructed time machine that takes the reader straight to the Ides of March, 44 BC, then visits other moments before and after that famous date. . . . MacQueen weaves the insights of a lifelong classicist into a narrative structure inspired by the best tale-tellers from Homer to Tarantino. The novel’s last sentence left me feeling sorry that I would never know what happened next . . . unless, that is, MacQueen graces us with another wonderful story.”


—Vic Udwin, author of Between Two Armies