Since I haven't read the novel, this is just me wondering based on the pieces on the table--what do you think?
Most of her classical novels are not romances in the modern sense, so I don't think so: it's very much part of the ethos of The Last of the Wine (1956), for example, although not in the same crushing fashion as in her contemporary novels; it is definitely a factor in her conception of the relationships of Alexander the Great. The Mask of Apollo may be just be that different and that good.
Re: nouns are good! solid, dependable (though those are adjectives)
Most of her classical novels are not romances in the modern sense, so I don't think so: it's very much part of the ethos of The Last of the Wine (1956), for example, although not in the same crushing fashion as in her contemporary novels; it is definitely a factor in her conception of the relationships of Alexander the Great. The Mask of Apollo may be just be that different and that good.