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The Dark Wife

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The Dark Wife

By: Sarah Diemer
Narrated by: Veronica Giguere
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About this listen

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want - except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny. But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.

The Dark Wife is a YA novel, a lesbian revisionist retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth. It won the 2012 Golden Crown Literary Award for Speculative Fiction.

©2011 Sarah Diemer (P)2016 Hatching Phoenix Productions
Adaptations Literature & Fiction Ancient Greece Greek Mythology

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a succulent tale of love and power

Would you listen to The Dark Wife again? Why?

Not only is the narration utterly stunning the story itself is just divine. There are so many wonderful women in this story, that is at it's core a story that really explores the depths and complexities of female characters and lesbian love stories without fetishisation or stereotyping. There is not your typical slice of white bread discovers she is the chosen one. This is a story that while spoken of gods resonates so beautifully with the lives of so many, be it that in the LGBT community or otherwise. The way these characters are balances is utterly brilliant, their endless lives somehow manage to investigate a fascinating side of humanity that so few writers ever reach. I could write a novel itself about this story, but the most important thing to me is that these women are treated as people, two women who both hold love within their hearts for at one time perhaps another woman, but eventually for one another. As a Lesbian myself it is so so so wonderful to experience lesbian relationships written in a normalised manner, which sounds crazy considering the context of gods and myths but once again that shows the power of this story.

What did you like best about this story?

The use of language, which is rich but not loquacious to a point that is tiring as many authors can be. The diverse range of characters and beautiful portrayal of several lesbian relationships.

What about Veronica Giguere’s performance did you like?

Everything, honestly, her ability with voices is stunning and I just found myself lost in the world over and over again as if I were in the most beautiful of waking dreams.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this book, just please, no matter who you are, listen, it is stunning.

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