“Beutner has elevated a relatively minor character in Greek mythology to a major player,” writes Booklist of Alcestis. “In this reworking of the classic legend…Beutner spices up this classic tale with a decidedly Sapphic flavor.” Have we gotten your attention now?
In Greek myth, Alcestis is known as the ideal good wife; she loved her husband so much that she died to save his life and was sent to the underworld in his place. Author Katharine Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal, bringing to life the world of Mycenaean Greece, a world peopled by capricious gods, where royal women are confined to the palace grounds and passed as possessions from father to husband. But once in the realm of the dead, Alcestis falls in love with the goddess Persephone and discovers the true horror and beauty of death.
We at Wonders & Marvels have four copies of Alcestis for our giveaway. To enter, simply comment in response to this question by 11:59 PM EST February 28, 2010:
What little-known character in history deserves to be in the spotlight and have his or her story told?
Good luck! (Sorry, at this time, we can only ship to U.S. winners.)
Tagged as:
Alcestis,
Giveaway,
Katharine Beutner,
Mycenaean
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Commodus of Rome. The only thing I’ve ever learned of him was from the movie Gladiator. He seemed a fascinating, but evil, character. I would love to learn more about him historically or to read a good historical fiction portrayal of him.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I really want someone to write a book about Countess Elizabeth Bathory. She has a tale worthy of a horror movie. Thanks for the giveaway!!
I think I would love to know more about Vittoria Colonna, the woman to whom Michelangelo dedicated much of his poetry.
thank you.
I would love to read this book
I’ve always thought that Alcibiades deserves more recognition, other than from classicists, for he was quite a man!
j.brol@yahoo.com
I think that Alcibiades deserves more recognition; he was an amazing man!
Awesome giveaway!
j.brol@yahoo.com
Taharqa, the last Nubian pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty. I’ve written a children’s book about him and am trying to find a publisher. Talk about overlooked. I’d love to see him get the attention he deserves.
Salome…why did she agree to give up John the Baptist?
I’m so enjoying reading these comments — and thank you so much for hosting the giveaway!
Hmm. I would say Lady Jane Grey, but then Allison Weir wrote “Innocent Traitor” and scotched that (to my endless delight; Lady Jane Grey is too often overlooked). Abigail Adams has her own series of mysteries now. Hmm. How about Denmark’s first reigning queen, Margrethe? She singlehandedly united most of Denmark. I’d love to see a book about her life.
Ooh, or Polyxena, or Hermoine, while we’re talking Greek mythology. Polyxena was the daughter of Priam who was sacrificed on Achilles’s grave after the end of the war, and Hermione was the daughter of Helen and Menelaus, and we know virtually nothing about her. Or Iphigenia! Except I think Iphigenia has books. Off to find them…
Definitely Batilde–St. Bathilde–wife of Clovis II…I’ve thought, from time to time, that if I were ever to write a piece of historical fiction myself, she would be the ideal subject.
I would like to see a novelization of the life of Olympe de Gouges: feminist, abolitionist, philosopher, and playwright. She was an active intellectual and supporter of the French Revolution before denouncing the Reign of Terror and being executed herself.
I would love to read a biography of Hypatia of Alexandria; she’s an incredible woman, and her biography would make for an incredible novel.
I also think Berengaria of Navarre (wife of Richard the Lionheart) should get to have HER say–so much is focused on her husband (was he gay, was he evil, was he a hero…) and she ends up a non-entity, which is not only unfair, it’s unimaginative.
The above suggestions were all fantastic, too!
Alexander Woollcott: theater critic, author, radio personality, bon vivant, Algonquin Round Table mainstay. Once one of the most read people in America (arguably the West), now out of print. He lived a strange and intense life. He’s a historical figure I’ve always found fascinating.
Rachel, there’s a semi-recently published novel about Countess Bathory entitled THE BLOOD CONFESSION by Alisa Libby; she also wrote THE KING’S ROSE, a novel about Catherine Howard which elevates her from the Lydia Bennett of Henry’s queens.
Hmm, I have a few suggestions for characters in history and all that. I’d love to see a novel about Jane Morris (wife of William Morris) from her point of view. Or how about Hildegard von Bingen?
My vote is for Theodora Senatrix, a key figure in the “pornocracy” (or Rule of the Harlots) era in Rome in the 10th century A.D. Along with her daughter and nieces, Theodora regularly slept and intrigued with the popes and committed numerous crimes and passions (and crimes of passion, no doubt). Her daughter Marozia was said to be the lover of Pope Sergius III and the mother of Pope John XI, possibly by Sergius.
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