Alcestis - Hardcover

Beutner, Katherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569476179 ISBN 13: 9781569476178

Publisher: Soho Press Inc, 2010

Synopsis

In Greek mythology, Alcestis is known as the good wife - she loved her husband so much that she died to save his life and was sent to the underworld in his place. In this poetic and vividly imagined debut, Katharine Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal, bringing to life the world of Mycenaean Greece, and the part of the story that has never been told: how she falls in love with the goddess Persephone and discovers the true horror and beauty of death.

About this title

Review

"[A]n engaging, subversive reimagining of the tale of the eponymous Greek heroine who is upheld as a shining example of the dutiful wife for her selfless sacrifice. Katharine Buetner's Alcestis is a far more willful heroine, and her encounters with the gods of the underworld resonate with a genuine sense of the numinous."--Jacqueline Carey, "Namaah's Kiss "and "Kushiel's Dart"

"Beutner renders her multilayered heroine with beauty and delicacy, and concerns herself with no less than the intricacies of the soul."--"Publishers Weekly"

"Everyday life in the ancient world, a no-escape-clause afterlife in the underworld, vulnerable mortals, and passionate and tormented gods--all are imagined with intense actuality in a novel that is as intoxicating and hypnotic as the sacred smoke inhaled by the oracles."--Elizabeth Knox, "The Vintner's Luck"

"Beutner spices up this classic tale with a decidedly Sapphic flavor."--"Booklist"

[A]n engaging, subversive reimagining of the tale of the eponymous Greek heroine who is upheld as a shining example of the dutiful wife for her selfless sacrifice. Katharine Buetner s Alcestis is a far more willful heroine, and her encounters with the gods of the underworld resonate with a genuine sense of the numinous. Jacqueline Carey, Namaah s Kiss and Kushiel s Dart
Beutner renders her multilayered heroine with beauty and delicacy, and concerns herself with no less than the intricacies of the soul. Publishers Weekly
Everyday life in the ancient world, a no-escape-clause afterlife in the underworld, vulnerable mortals, and passionate and tormented gods all are imagined with intense actuality in a novel that is as intoxicating and hypnotic as the sacred smoke inhaled by the oracles. Elizabeth Knox, The Vintner s Luck
Beutner spices up this classic tale with a decidedly Sapphic flavor. Booklist"

About the Author

Katharine Beutner grew up in Lancaster, PA. She has a BA in Classical Studies from Smith College, and she recently completed an M.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is currently a PhD student in eighteenth-century British literature. Her work has appeared in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet. Alcestis is her first novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Soho Press Inc
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1569476179
• ISBN 13: 9781569476178
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304