The Stolen Women is a debut queer ancient historical novel that follows a young female warrior as she investigates the disappearance of noble women, as war with Rome looms on the horizon.
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About The Stolen Women
Safinia is fine to focus on her training as a warrior, providing for her sisters, and minding her own business. She feels no great need to meddle in anyone else’s, until women in her town, including her former lover, begin disappearing. Quietly, at first, but disappearing just the same. All of the missing women have vanished from powerful households, but their formidable fathers are in utter denial, claiming their daughters are off on trips, sure to be back shortly, with perfectly reasonable explanations for their absences.
Dissatisfied with the half-hearted attempts to hand wave away the alarming and mysterious cases of the vanishing women, Safinia takes matters into her own hands, embarking on a journey to a neighboring village in search of answers or at the very least clues that might unearth threads she can begin to pull at. Along the way, she meets an unlikely yet helpful search partner, a historian who calls himself Livy. But despite his eerie sense of knowledge, Safinia is unable to uncover to missing women, thwarted more often than not by the girls’ fathers themselves. As war with Rome looms on the horizon, Safinia must face the reality that the only one she can trust to bring them home is herself.
With The Stolen Women, Alysandra Dutton has crafted an expertly researched and in-depth look at the Sabine women, one of history’s most overlooked yet crucial stories that has inspired countless works of art throughout the centuries. It’s a fresh, page-turning adventure, perfect for readers of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes.
Praise for The Stolen Women
“The Stolen Women is an exciting and original debut for those who loved Gladiator but hate the patriarchy. Dutton dives into the murky origins of Rome, and emerges triumphant with a riveting tale of one woman’s stand against empire. Clean prose and dynamic characters bring life to antiquity and we see the Sabine women, for better or worse, as agents of their own destiny.”—Anna Rasche, bestselling author of The Stone Witch of Florence
“What a rip-roaring feminist adventure! The Stolen Women is the sort of historical fiction that feels like time travel, pulling readers not just into the past but into the joys and fears of another era. Brash and sexy, detailed yet action-packed, The Stolen Women is a reminder that the past is never really gone, some battles are never over, and that some stories never end.”—Claudia Cravens, author of Lucky Red
“The Stolen Women is a smart, powerful novel that holds the weight of mythology and the swiftness of a page-turner. But more than that, it is a righteous, full-throated scream about the violence of patriarchy, the erasure of women from history books, and the blood that stains the soil beneath every empire.”—Rita Chang-Eppig, author of Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea
“Men may always be thinking about Rome, but I’m always thinking about the Sabine women – so imagine my giddy delight at reading this gorgeous queer take on a Sabine woman who decides to play detective and investigate what’s really going down in a very noirish Rome. I’m recommending [The Stolen Women]…to every interesting person I know!”—Amber Sparks, author of Happy People Don’t Live Here
“Dutton has woven a captivating and impactful retelling of the Sabine story deploying creativity and imagination while intricately weaving in archaeological and historical evidence. On full display is a knowledge of Roman myth, legend and history, balanced with a desire to illuminate a new side to the infamous events that justified the beginnings of Rome. Dutton skillfully builds relatable and emotional connections with characters–even if trapped in the mists of time and legend–that bring new relevance to Roman history and archaeology in our contemporary world.”—Dr. Emlyn Dodd, Adelaide University
“In The Stolen Women, the story of the Sabine Women is rendered in fresh, intricately wrought layers through the eyes of its lioness-hearted heroine Safinia, who turns the imperial narrative of the founding of Rome very literally on its head. Dutton’s storytelling is breathtakingly inventive and expertly researched, her prose muscular and full of life. In her skillful hands the world of 8th century BCE Italy comes into vivid relief, rich with the scents of forest and cookfire and the textures of mountainous journeys and raw-edged young cities. Prepare to have your history of Rome and its famous historian Livy totally rewritten—by the courageous women whose stories were never truly told.”—Sylvia V. Linsteadt, author of Our Lady of the Dark Country and the Carnegie Medal-nominated The Wild Folk
About Alysandra Dutton, Author of The Stolen Women
Alysandra Dutton attended the University of Arkansas for her MFA, where she was awarded a dizzying number of fellowships and prose awards. Her short fiction appeared in Catapult, Electric Literature and The Sun, and she wrote The Stolen Women with support from The Elizabeth George Foundation. Currently, she lives in Minnesota and is a teaching artist with The Loft Literary Center, leading an eight-week Historical Fiction workshop for neurodivergent writers.
You can connect with Alysandra Dutton on her website, Instagram, Substack, and on TikTok.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Park Row | HarperCollins
ISBN Hardcover 9780778306801
Pub Date Oct 27, 2026
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