Originally twelve years of age, small, and timid at the beginning of the novel, Chloe is the daughter of Chloe, a Greek slave girl, and her Roman husband, Laevinus. Chloe's mother, dying of heartbreak after the abandonment of Laevinus, leaves Chloe to be raised by her dearest friend and fellow slave, Melissa, in the hut overlooking the Villa Carracinia. Chloe grows into a beautiful young woman of seventeen, who learns how to sing and absorbs what scant intellectual knowledge comes her way.
The Forgotten Daughter