Thursday, August 17, 2023

Review: Galatea by Madeline Miller

Title: Galatea

Author: Madeline Miller

Genre: Adult, fantasy, historical, Greek mythology

Publication date: August 2013

Published by: Ecco

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece—the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen—the gift of life. After marrying her, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence.

In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, Galatea is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...

My rating: ★★★★☆

I read The Song of Achilles a couple of years ago and I really loved it! So since then, I’ve been very excited to read Madeline Miller’s other books. And this novella was great!

I love mythology, but the Galatea story is one I’m not super familiar with, so I was really looking forward to this novella. I always love it when books explore myths that are not as popular as your average Hades and Persephone myth. This Galatea story is about a stone statue (not the nymph, because there’s more than one Galatea and I was momentarily confused lol) brought to life by Aphrodite at the request of Pygmalion, a statue maker.

This story was so well written! This comes as no surprise to me because of how much I enjoyed The Song of Achilles. Lol. Madeline Miller’s writing is just so beautiful, but not annoyingly so in a purple prose sort of way (last year I discovered that I do not like purple prose one bit lol). I also enjoyed the story itself. These myths are called Greek tragedies for a reason, and this one was exactly that. It was beautifully written, but it was such a sad story. I really liked Galatea and felt for her and her situation. Pygmalion was infuriating! He was a terrible human being!


But yeah, I really enjoyed this overall! It was such a good retelling and I’m looking forward to reading Circe by this author, which I haven’t yet (I know 🙈 lol).


Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊

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