A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the acclaimed novel The Mere Wife. A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. This radical new verse translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist's eye toward gender, genre, and history it has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of Beowulf, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries, transforming the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a thrilling tale in which the two categories often entwine.

A New Statesman Book of the Year A fierce, feminist retelling of the classic tale Beowulf. Gren and his mother, Dana, a war veteran, live on the side of a mountain, next to Herot Hall, a pristine gated community ruled over by Willa and her son, Dylan. Separated by high gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights, Dylan and Gren are unaware of the barriers erected to keep them apart. But when Gren crosses the border into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, he sets up a collision between Dana's and Willa's worlds that echoes the Beowulf story - and gives sharp, startling currency to the ancient epic poem.

Headley, a wise-cracking New York City girl with as much wit as any character on Sex and the City, is jaded and cynical about men in New York. She vows to say yes to any and every person who asks her out - a taxi driver, a homeless man - you name it, she'll say yes for an entire year. By the year's end, she meets the man she eventually marries. 'The Year of Yes' is the hilarious and hopeful true account of one woman's quest to find a man she can stand (for longer than a couple of hours). Frustrated by her own pitiful taste, writer Maria Headley decided to leave her love life up to fate, going out with everyone who asked her: homeless men, taxi drivers, and yes, even a couple of women. Opening her heart and mind to the possibility that her perfect match might be the person she least expects, she spent 12 months dating most of New York City, and beyond, including: JARZHE: A Microsoft Millionaire who still lived with his mother THE ROCKSTAR: A young homeless man who believed himself to be Jimi Hendrix IRA: Her high school nemesis, whom she'd spent seven years rejecting THE MIME: A man in the Marceau Mold who proposed with hand gestures CHUPA CHUPA: A 70-year-old neighborhood eccentric who spoke only Spanish And finally, a man whose baggage should have taken him off her list - at least until 'The Year of Yes' taught her what was really important: love and perseverance always wins in the end.