LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
April 2023 Debut of the Month
In Lies We Sing to the Sea, debut novelist Sarah Underwood reimagines the Greek myth of Penelope's twelve hanged maids from Homer’s The Odyssey to present a richly detailed, sweeping story that will satisfy latter-day fans of fantastical fiction. Teeming with tragedy, romance and big themes — fate, sacrifice, desire and female agency — it relates an epic quest to break a curse and exact revenge.
While some superstitious townsfolk had whispered about her having “mystical powers”, seventeen-year-old Leto has lived a largely unremarkable life in the kingdom of Ithaca, a place where twelve maidens are hanged each spring as a gift to Poseidon, god of the sea. All that changes when Leto’s time to be hanged comes, and she defies the gallows by waking up on Pandou island. She’s discovered by Melantho, keeper of Pandou, who buries the eleven dead maidens with honey and wine, before explaining that Leto’s survival presents a rare opportunity to break the hanging curse —“We need to kill the prince of Ithaca”.
After the swift set-up of this context, and after Leto initially refuses her heroine’s call to adventure, Melantho drops the bombshell that she’s too bound to Pandou to leave the island, which means Leto must bear this task alone. And so the stage is set for a twisting tale of lust, love, loss and sacrifice, told in a style that melds modern snappiness with timeless atmosphere.
Joanne Owen
Find This Book In
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
About
Lies We Sing to the Sea Synopsis
A fantasy romance, by dazzling new talent Sarah Underwood, inspired by Greek mythology and the tale of Penelope's twelve hanged maids.
In the cursed kingdom of Ithaca, each spring brings the hanging of twelve maidens, a gift to the vengeful Poseidon. But when Leto awakens from her death on the shore of a long-forgotten island, its enigmatic keeper Melantho tells her that there's only one way the curse can be broken. Leto must kill the last prince of Ithaca . . .
In Lies We Sing to the Sea, debut author Sarah Underwood delivers a thrilling and breathtaking tale that will enthral readers from the very first page as they are transported to the cursed shores of Ithaca.
A reclamation of a story from thousands of years ago, Lies We Sing to the Sea is about love and fate, grief and sacrifice, and, ultimately, the power we must find within.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780008558536 |
| Publication date: |
16th March 2023 |
| Author: |
Sarah Underwood |
| Publisher: |
Electric Monkey an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
496 pages |
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
Press Reviews
Sarah Underwood Press Reviews
A lovely, lyrical fantasy which takes the fate of the hanged maids of the Odyssey and weaves something brand new. A story overflowing with emotion and full of magic. Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra
A sensual story about power and autonomy of self, and about how appeasing the gods means making painful choices The Bookseller One to Watch, 9/12/2022
Gorgeous, tragic, and timeless, Underwood's Lies We Sing to the Sea makes an age-old story feel new again. This is Greek tragedy at its best: sweeping in scope yet deeply intimate in characterization. This book will break your heart. - Grace Li (Sunday Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief)
Lies We Sing to the Sea is a wondrous tale of love, death, and sacrifice. The vivid characters give depth and adventure to a story with roots in classic Greek mythology.
- Natasha Bowen (New York Times bestselling author of Skin of the Sea)
Sarah Underwood's classical reimagining is woven with pure magic: salt-laced myths, a plot that slowly unravels like a tapestry, and vivid characters who are destined to steal your heart. A scintillating, beautiful debut. -Rebecca Ross, internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted and Sisters of Sword & Song
Rich, immersive and utterly compelling. A stunning achievement from Gen Z's answer to Madeline Miller Laura Steven, author of Society for Soulless Girls
Lies We Sing to the Sea is a lyrical, elegant debut bursting with imagination and heart. Underwood expertly weaves a tale about the inevitability of fate-and the love that makes us rail against it anyway. Bittersweet and wholly cathartic. -Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic
Author
About Sarah Underwood
Sarah Underwood grew up in Devon, England. She obtained her MEng in Computational Bioengineering at Imperial College, London, and has recently graduated with an MPhil in Population Health Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Lies We Sing to the Sea is her debut novel.
Find Sarah on Instagram @s_e_c_underwood
Photo credit Jamie Drew
More About Sarah Underwood
More
"Lies We Sing to the Sea reimagines the fate of Penelope’s twelve hanged maids in Homer’s The Odyssey. To me, the story of the maids is one of blame and of agency (or lack thereof): twelve young women, arguably slaves, vilified for having sexual relationships with older and significantly more powerful men. The men that raped them die in combat—honourable deaths. The maids, by contrast, are slaughtered like animals (‘hung like doves’, as Fitzgerald translates it in a verse I know by heart). They are dehumanised completely. In fact, only one of them is even named. She is ‘sharp-tongued’ and ‘disloyal’ and she is called Melantho. She had a name. Now, I wanted to give her a story—and her revenge." - Sarah Underwood
