Phoenicia Rogerson

From the author of Herc, a Waterstones Best Book of the Year ‘Particularly skilled in evoking the strangeness and contradictoriness of Greek myths’ Sunday Times ‘A joyful exploration of one woman's quest for home, power, identity and ultimately, freedom from fate. A genuine pleasure to read!’ Clare North, author of Ithaca * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ‘I’m a liar, to begin with.’ I wasn’t always a goddess, you see. My only real power was my beauty – you’ll have heard. It’s legendary. But that was never going to be enough for me. It took a web of lies to convince the gods of Olympus I was one of them. But I did. I was that good. Zeus gave me a title and riches and loved me. And all he wanted in return was for me to love him back. But of course, Zeus was a tyrant. (Not entirely surprising when you’re ninety per cent insecurities and ten per cent raw power.) I couldn’t live at someone’s mercy. Really, I had no choice. I had to take on the mightiest Olympian of all. And this bit’s not a lie… I intended to win. A wonderful tale set in Ancient Greece where a being with no power rises to the very top by outwitting other gods all while maintaining a sense of exactly who she is – a goddess who intends to always do it her way. Perfect for fans of Ferdia Lennon, Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Authors and readers ADORE Aphrodite: 'Sparkles with wicked humour and boundless imagination' Kate Heartfield, Sunday Times bestselling author ‘Welcome the Real Housewives of Olympus. Stunning, brilliant, witty, so delicious it could only be divine’ Reader review 'Wit and verve, contrasting laugh-out-loud humour with moments of surprising tenderness' Luna McNamara, author of Pysche and Eros 'With sharp dialogue and dynamic scenes, it plays like a divine reality show' Woman&Home 'I can't emphasise enough how much I adored this version of Aphrodite – wickedly funny, caustic, fierce, playful and cheeky yet with a soft centre' Reader review 'Aphrodite gives a human voice to the inhuman goddess that you can’t help but love' Lizzy Tiffin, author of Bad Girls of Ancient Greece 'If you’ve ever wondered what Tina Fey retelling your favorite myths would be like, Phoenicia Rogerson has the answer' Ian Doescher, author of the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series 'Greek Mythology has never been so engaging, witty and clever as now!' Reader review

'I’m a liar, to begin with.' I wasn’t always a goddess, you see. My only real power was my beauty – you’ll have heard. It’s legendary. But that was never going to be enough for me. It took a web of lies to convince the gods of Olympus I was one of them. But I did. I was that good. Zeus gave me a title and riches and loved me. And all he wanted in return was for me to love him back. But of course, Zeus was a tyrant. (Not entirely surprising when you’re ninety per cent insecurities and ten per cent raw power.) I couldn’t live at someone’s mercy. Really, I had no choice. I had to take on the mightiest Olympian of all. And this bit’s not a lie… I intended to win. From the award-winning author of Herc, this is the riveting tale of how a nobody became a goddess, and then planned to take down the most powerful god of them all.

This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures…everyone’s favourite hero, right? ?Wrong. This is the story of everyone else: Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere) Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends) Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage) Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (He never asked for the job) His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims. It’s time to hear their stories. Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth. Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Joanne M. Harris