October 28, 2024
Ives’s fascinating debut sets itself apart from the recent slew of mythological retellings by transporting figures from Roman mythology to the lost colony of Roanoke. In the timeline labeled “Before,” Thelxiope and her sisters are handmaidens to Proserpina, Ceres’s daughter and the goddess of spring. Thelxiope, called Thelia, has a special relationship with Proserpina that grows into a romance. When the women sneak away from Ceres’s home for a tryst, Proserpina is stolen into the Underworld, leaving Thelia and her sisters to face Ceres’s wrath. She transforms them into sirens and traps them on the island of Scopuli. In their new, monstrous forms, the women spend centuries feeding on the men who shipwreck on the island, sacrificing them to Ceres in hopes of appeasing her. These scenes are intercut with the timeline labeled “Now,” in which Thelia lands in Roanoke hoping to bring help to her sisters. The colony is starving, and Thelia figures out a way to use that to her advantage, though she must first face the machinations of a cruel man and his crueler mother. Complicating things is Cora, a colonist who looks uncannily like Proserpina and threatens to pull Thelia from her purpose. Ives skillfully blends old and new legends while lovingly crafting a nuanced cast of women characters. The result is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint.