The stunning, gender-flipped novel about love, creativity and the
power of speaking out, which has the biggest names in Australian
literature swooning with praise - perfect for fans of Madeline
Miller and Pat Barker. 'Poetic and evocative ... this story will
thrill readers' PIP WILLIAMS 'Vivid, consuming, potent, and poetic
... A moving, magical ode to the power of using our voices' HOLLY
RINGLAND Their love transcends every boundary. Can it cheat death?
Orphia dreams of something more than the warrior crafts she's been
forced to learn. Hidden away on a far-flung island, her blood sings
with poetry and her words can move flowers to bloom and forests to
grow ... but her father, the sun god Apollo, has forbidden her this
art. A chance meeting with a young shield-maker, Eurydicius, gives
her the courage to use her voice. After wielding all her gifts to
defeat one final champion, Orphia draws the scrutiny of the gods.
Performing her poetry, she wins the protection of the goddesses of
the arts: the powerful Muses, who welcome her to their sanctuary on
Mount Parnassus. Orphia learns to hone her talents, crafting words
of magic infused with history, love and tragedy. When Eurydicius
joins her, Orphia struggles with her desire for fame and her
budding love. As her bond with the gentle shield-maker grows, she
joins the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. Facing
dragons, sirens and ruthless warriors on the voyage, Orphia earns
unparalleled fame, but she longs to return to Eurydicius. Yet she
has a darker journey to make - one which will see her fight for her
love with all the power of her poetry. Praise for Orphia and
Eurydicius 'A swoonworthy, breathtakingly exquisite, poignant
masterpiece' BETTER READING 'Like all enchanted books, the story of
Elyse Johns' Orphia and Eurydicius is vivid, consuming, potent, and
poetic. This gender-flipping, feminist retelling is not just a love
story for the ages, but a moving, magical ode to the power of using
our voices, and of being who we are in the world.' HOLLY RINGLAND,
author of The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding 'As I read, I imagined
the muses beside Elyse John, focusing her mind and guiding her
hand. The writing is poetic and evocative, and the story will
thrill readers who have long suspected something is missing from
the classics of Greek myth.' PIP WILLIAMS, author of The Bookbinder
of Jericho 'This book hooked me from its opening lines ... Music
and poetry, art and magic are woven together in this dazzling fable
which ultimately asks: how far are we willing to go for the ones we
love? Elyse John has taken one of the most beautiful and tragic
love stories ever told and infused it with a modern sensibility.
Readers will swoon.' LAUREN CHATER, author of The Winter Dress 'A
timeless story told in rich, poetic language ... a book for lovers
of myth, passion and transporting historical fiction. John
brilliantly reimagines the past while crafting a moving tale of
love that challenges outdated gender roles, and of grief drawn from
the depths of experience. The mesmerising landscapes, the journeys
of sea and fire, encircle this very human story in the evocative
realm of legend.' KATHERINE BRABON, author of The Shut Ins 'Highly
polished and luminous ... A wonderfully ambitious, richly imagined
tale of star-crossed lovers. Brimming with passion, wit and poetry
Orphia and Eurydicius is a story of, and for, the ages. One that
not only stands as a paeon to love, courage and acceptance but to
every woman's desire, and right, to be heard. A triumph.' LYN
HUGHES, author of Mr Carver's Whale 'A gorgeous, sweeping tale that
both evokes the feeling of classic mythology and intelligent and
modern insight, this is a story of the boundaries we put on love
and grief - I dare you to be unmoved by it.' SAM HAWKE, author of
City of Lies 'A beautiful, poetic ode to Greek myth, love, and the
sheer power of women's art and women's voices.' TASHA SURI, author
of the Burning Kingdoms series 'Spins a bewitching tale of courage,
love, and defiance, giving voice and agency to the women in Greek
tales who are so often defined by the men they are associated with.
Orphia's poetry may bring the gods to tears; John's words have the
same effect on us mere mortals. Tragic and triumphant, a
must-read!' ANDREA STEWART, author of The Bone Shard Daughter 'A
delectable concoction at once ancient and modern, comfortingly
familiar and yet very much her own ... A thrilling tale of epic
love and epic ambition spun with a Homeric sense of adventure and
storytelling flair. It's also a hymn to the pleasures of
sensuality, nature and creativity, and to the courage of being
yourself rather than the person others want you to be.' LEE KOFMAN,
author of The Writer Laid Bare 'A powerful ode to female creativity
and ambition, a poignant exploration of grief, and a testament to
the power of art and love to transcend death. Lyrical, luminous,
and brimming with passion.' H.G. PARRY, author of The Magician's
Daughter 'Elyse John has written that rare novel, one that has
heart and wisdom, adventure and poetry, and all the while it pulses
with a great political purpose. It's a marvel.' NIGEL FEATHERSTONE,
author of My Heart is a Little Wild Thing 'A fresh and enchanting
retelling of the Orpheus myth, in which Ancient Greece's greatest
poet becomes a bold, powerful woman, and her muse an artistic,
gentle man. John astutely explores and tests the gendered
stereotypes of classical myth and elevates women's voices and
stories to craft a beautiful, beguiling modern myth about the value
of creativity, the strength of non-conformity and the power of
love.' NIKKI MARMERY, author of Lilith 'An intoxicating story about
a woman fighting to live a life of creativity and love, on her own
terms. This is a powerful epic about the collective power of women
set in the mythical past that feels incredibly relevant today.
John's gilded romance about breaking boundaries to live and love is
transportative.' STEPH VIZARD, winner of the 2022 HarperCollins
Banjo Prize for The Love Contract
General
Imprint: |
HarperCollinsPublishers Australia
|
Country of origin: |
Australia |
Release date: |
April 2024 |
Authors: |
Elyse John
|
Pages: |
400 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4607-6524-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-4607-6524-9 |
Barcode: |
9781460765241 |
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