Book Box: New spins on Greek myths
SINGAPORE – In this week’s Book Box, The Straits Times takes a look at new spins on Greek myths.
Book review: Rosie Garland’s The Fates stumbles while Natalie Haynes’ Divine Might rules in the Greek myth remake race
The Fates, written by author Rosie Garland. PHOTOS: CARRI ANGEL, QUERCUS
The remaking of Greek myths has powered a veritable cottage industry in publishing in the past decade. Leading the charge with these remade stories are women writers, who zero in on the oft-muted voices of Greek women – be they mortal or immortal – in the legends that have shaped Western culture.
These two books are just the latest offerings in the stampede.
Quercus is trumpeting Rosie Garland’s The Fates as “a spellbindingly original mythical retelling for 2024”. What it is, really, is a very prettily written but often flat story that spends most of its time with Meleager and Atalanta rather than the titular Moirai, the three sisters known colloquially as the Fates.
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Book review: Fruit Of The Dead uses Hades and Persephone to tackle addiction and exploitation
Fruit Of The Dead by Rachel Lyon. PHOTOS: PIETER M. VAN, SCRIBNER
“I’m looking for a man in finance. Trust fund, 6’5”, blue eyes,” goes the latest in vogue TikTok hook.
Whether it is invoked in ironic jest or, equally likely, with faux irony and, so, some sincerity, the age-old aspiration of women marrying into wealth appears to be having a new summer.
Rachel Lyon’s relevant retelling of the myth of Hades and Persephone, Fruit Of The Dead, is a reminder of the dangers of this trope.
Published in the wake of the conviction of financier Jeffrey Epstein and the ongoing scandal surrounding the Sackler family, who owned Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, it recontextualises contemporary debates of the ethics of exploitative age-gap relationships and addictive painkillers into an age-old tale.
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Book review: Mythological retelling of Beauty And The Beast in The North Wind
The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick. PHOTOS: SIMON & SCHUSTER, ALEXANDRIAWARWICK/INSTAGRAM
In a dark and atmospheric world, elder sister Wren chooses to sacrifice herself to the Frost King in place of her younger sister, Elora, with just one thing on her mind – to kill him, and return to her sister.
Instead, she falls in love with King Boreas – named after the Greek god of the violent North Wind – in this fantasy romance tale where ancient gods rule and humans are mere pawns in their immortal games.
Alexandria Warwick’s TikTok sensation “The North Wind” – the first instalment in the Four Winds series – follows fierce but flawed Wren’s rash journey into Boreas’ realm in a twisted tale of hate, love and redemption.
In some ways, a retelling of classic fairy tale Beauty And The Beast, and with a generous sprinkle of Greek lore, what recommends it is its complex characters and slow-burn romance.
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The Straits Times’ Weekly Bestsellers June 29
PHOTOS: BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING, HACHETTE GO, PENGUIN SEA
Welcome To The Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum hits No. 1 on the fiction bestsellers list.
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