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Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite YourcenarRead about the other entries on the list.
The ultimate magic act, this novel is so impeccably rendered that one can't believe it's fiction. A historical record, a novel of government and power, a love story; it is all that and more.
Memoirs of Hadrian is among John Mullan's ten best emperors in literature and Teju Cole's top 10 novels of solitude.
--Marshal Zeringue