Atalanta: The dazzling story of the only female Argonaut

Product Information

Though he isn't present in every scene, he conveys each piece of the story leading up to the murder as if he were an omniscient narrator, capable of accessing every character's interior perspective. Will Atalanta succeed in her quest to prove herself and will she stay true to the oath she swore Artemis? She doesn’t need any rewriting to make her into a female role model: she’s always existed in ancient art and literature as a fearless woman famed for being faster, stronger and more adventurous than even the greatest male heroes.

A stunning retelling filled with breathtaking adventure, Atalanta brings to life a heroine who stands tall among the ancient gods and heroes of legend. I knew the character of Meleager from the story of the Calydonian Boar Hunt, and I really drew on Ovid’s description of this myth in the Metamorphoses. She greeted the hounds, then inclined her head for me to follow her into the forest depths, indicating for me to walk as soundlessly as she did, and to pause and look around with quick, darting movements at frequent intervals. They both do important work to further highlight Atalanta’s story as a human’s story, not just a woman’s.One of the many elements, I savoured when enjoying this book, was Jennifer’s ability, to bring Atalanta to life, the complexities of her personality, the evolution of her emotions, the essence of her aspirations, and the myriad of trials and tribulations she has to face.

In some ways, the story feels very much like it is ticking away at the bullet point references to Atalanta that we have from the original stories. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining, her tunic loosely belted around her waist, and the smoothly curved bow in her hand. No longer a 2 dimensional figure on the fringes of other hero’s stories - she is now 3 dimensional and has her own story, her own voice. Instead, she feels responsibility and duty to do best by this child, but recognizes that the best life for both her son and herself may be one apart from one another. I remember the taste of the cold, clear water they gave me to drink, how clumsy I was with the cup they held to the mouth of the spring for me.Her novel Frieda’s Song was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award, Historical Fiction. The author might have further explored her heroine’s contradictory strength and vulnerability, her mixed feelings and yearnings — the final human cost of both her success as a warrior and her surrender to mortal passion and attachment. I remember my first sight of the grove where she led me, stepping out from the cluster of cypress trees behind her.

Like in her previous books, Saint gives a voice to a female from Greek mythology that doesn’t often get one. I felt that it was a bit slow to get started – the section set in the woods with the nymphs seemed to last forever – but once Atalanta joined the Argonauts on their quest it all became much more compelling. The heroic story of the only female Argonaut, told by Jennifer Saint, the bestselling author of ELEKTRA (UK, Sunday Times , May 2022) and ARIADNE (UK, Sunday Times , April 2021). He was convulsing, over and over, his screams ringing into the sky, and then he rolled over onto four legs—no longer a man but a stag.When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. She stood in the center of them all, head and shoulders taller, holding a javelin stained with blood.