Were you familiar with the "House of Rumour"? How does this old story from Ovid relate to what happens in the book?
For reference, the text below is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book X11 which includes, among other things, the house of Rumour and the death of Achilles....
There is a place in the centre of the world,
between earth, sea, and sky, at the limits
of the three-fold universe where all things
which exist anywhere, even far away,
are seen and where all voices penetrate
attentive ears. In this place Rumour lives.
Here she has chosen herself a dwelling,
at the very summit of a citadel
with a thousand doorways and entrances,
but not a single gate to bar the way,
so the place stands open day and night.
Built all of echoing brass, it mutters,
repeating voices and echoing sounds
it has picked up. There is no quiet spot
inside, no silence anywhere. But still,
there is no loud din, only the subdued noise
of voices murmuring, the kind of sound
waves of the ocean often make when heard
from far away or the rumbling produced
by a final thunder roll when Jupiter
makes the clouds collide. An unruly crowd
fills up the halls, a fickle common throng,
which comes and go. A thousand rumours,
combining falsehood with the truth, wander
here and there, passing around misleading chat.
Some of these fill empty ears with gossip,
and some bear stories they have heard elsewhere.
The number of made-up tales keeps growing,
as every author alters what he heard
by adding something new. Here one can find
Credulity and hot-headed Error,
empty Joy, alarming Fears, instant Sedition,
and Whispers whose origin is unknown.
Rumour herself sees everything going on
in heaven, land, and sea, and asks about
events the whole world over.