Ariadne

Jennifer Saint

Ariadne
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Headline Publishing Group
Country
United Kingdom
Published
29 December 2021
Pages
400
ISBN
9781472273901

Ariadne

Jennifer Saint

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother - demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?

Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.

Review

There’s been a flush of novels based around feminist retellings of ancient myths lately. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes depicted the fall of Troy as seen through the eyes of women. Circe by Madeline Miller reimagined Homer’s oft-misunderstood witch from The Odyssey. Now debut novelist Jennifer Saint has turned her attention to the legend of Ariadne, who gave Theseus the means to defeat the Minotaur.

An immersive and engaging novel that brings to life the story of the Labyrinth, Ariadne also seamlessly includes many familiar Greek myths including the fall of Icarus, Midas of the golden touch, and the terrible story of Medusa’s transformation into the gorgon.

Ariadne leans harder into the fantastic aspects of the mythology than some of the other books in the genre: Saint’s Greek gods and goddesses are unambiguously present, malicious, capricious, and all-powerful. Humankind – particularly womenkind – is very much at their mercy, as revenge for the slights and sins of men are visited upon their wives and daughters with impunity. This concept of women suffering for the sake of male pride and ego is a timely one, and it’s unsurprising that the Greek myths are providing a rich strain of inspiration for authors who want to unpack the origins of our centuries-old patriarchy. Ariadne does this, and more.

Blood-soaked and visceral, Ariadne isn’t simply the story of the naive princess of Minos who betrays her family for love and is betrayed herself. It is the story of a girl who grows into adulthood and learns her own strength. It’s the story of two sisters who are bound by the violence committed against their mother. And it’s the story about how history celebrates the glory of men, when perhaps it should remember the sacrifices of women.


Lian Hingee is the digital marketing manager for Readings.

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