A collection of impressive breadth that will reward the mythically minded.
Greco-Roman epics live again in this intriguing anthology of retellings from diverse authors.
In the introduction to their first anthology as an editing duo, Northington and Williams invoke childhoods spent with d’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, and that affection is clearly shared with the 15 writers who transform stories of the Greek and Roman pantheons across lines of race, gender, sexuality, and genre in this collection, with mixed but often captivating results. Many of the strongest entries take the biggest risks regarding style and setting and prioritize examination of a theme over strict adherence to every plot point in the source material. Sarah Gailey’s “Wild To Covet,” which has a kinship with the stranger interludes in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? places Thetis’ journey from wild girl to wife and mother of Achilles (here, “Esau”) in American folklore. With admirably efficient storytelling and evocative prose, Gailey interrogates who and what is untameable. Who and what is capable of love is at the heart of another standout: Alyssa Cole’s poignant and richly imagined SF Hades and Persephone reinvention, “Stasis (Bastion in the Spring).” In a nice editorial touch, both “Stasis” and the stunning story that follows it, Taylor Rae’s “The Eagles at the Edge of the World,” concern themselves with the aftermaths of climate apocalypses—in the latter, a girl who’s one-quarter Kumeyaay is our Aeneas, attempting to find a new homeland with her mother in a flooded world. While not all the contributions are of the same caliber, the anthology ends in a blaze of glory thanks to Maya Deane’s incandescent “No Gods, No Kings,” which chronicles the Amazon queen Murina’s contribution to the fall of the Titans.
A collection of impressive breadth that will reward the mythically minded.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780593469248
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Vintage
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.
Exes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation.
Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple—until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families—in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. She’s ready for a vacation at her happy place—the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group’s last hurrah. Determined to make sure everyone has the perfect last trip, Harriet and Wyn resolve to fake their relationship for the week. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Harriet still has major feelings for Wyn—feelings that only get stronger as they pretend to be blissfully in love. As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions.
A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593441275
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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