There is more telling than showing, and characters launch into soliloquies that might make sense in a Greek tragedy but are out of place here. She uses formal, stilted language that is, perhaps, supposed to create a sense of antiquity but instead just feels unnatural. The author doesn’t quite deliver on making her protagonist-or anyone else in this novel-real. In choosing to give a voice to a woman plagued by awful men-her father, King Minos her first love, the hero Theseus Dionysus, the god of wine-Saint succeeds in presenting a distinctive version of Ariadne. Writers crafting long-form narratives face the additional challenge of putting flesh on archetypes. One of the difficulties of working with familiar figures and well-known tropes is making them fresh. Poets, playwrights, and painters have been creating their own iterations of the Olympian gods for thousands of years.

Ancient Near Eastern cultures borrowed one another’s deities and transformed them to meet their own needs. 'Jennifer Saint's Ariadne is a shimmering tapestry of two sisters bound by deceit and the shadows of family history.With a fresh voice and keen insight, Saint adds flesh and bone to an ancient myth, drawing the reader into an uneasy world of ever-afters.A debut novelist retells timeless tales from a feminine perspective.Ĭlassical mythology endures-at least in part-because of its malleability. Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.Ī Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books But will Ariadne’s decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind? Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice. Kreinik is the perfect voice for Ariadne, a noble young woman who bravely stands up for her values.' - AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winnerĪ mesmerizing debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller's Circe.Īriadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. 'An elegant performance by narrator Barrie Kreinik recounts the life of Ariadne.This production, with its outstanding narration, makes the classic story new again.

Ariadne by jennifer saint summary