abstract:Ludi (Latin plural) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (populus Romanus). Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state.
Suffused in the humanist tradition, erudite and wise, the novel examines how Cookie's parents, Alan (Woody) and Hannah Woodhull, and their two surviving daughters, Sara and Ludi, cope with the death of the first-born.