Lies we sing to the sea by Sarah Underwood

In numerous on-line reviews Underwood has copped flak for admitting that she had not read the whole of The Odyssey before writing Lies, but this can probably be forgiven if you accept that the story is only loosely inspired by The Odyssey, rather than expecting a retelling.

17 year-old oracle Leto is one of the 12 girls of Ithaca who each year are sacrificed to Poseidon by the young prince Mathias. However, after being hanged, she washes up on the shore of Pandou, and is restored to life by the immortal Melantho. Together they decide to return to Ithaca and plot to kill Mathias in an attempt to break Posiedon’s curse and prevent any more hangings.

With chapters alternating between the three main characters’ points of view, Leto, Melantho and Mathias, we follow the women’s efforts, and also see a variety of complicated relationships develop between the three.

Not for the fainthearted, the plot involves numerous knifings, hangings, and drownings, as well as sex, both consensual lesbian and heterosexual, and rape. Unfortunately, it also contains a number of annoying anachronisms, and I felt that some of the important plot points were rather contrived and too conveniently resolved. The pace of this book is a little uneven and at times quite burdened by the characters’ speech and thoughts being recorded in detail, so you really need to be invested in their outcomes, to read through nearly 500 pages of their every move.

However, the development of the relationships between the three was interesting as they balanced their responsibilities to family, countrymen and the Gods, with blossoming romance, jealousy, remorse and fear.

Adventure, with myth, magic, and a teenage love-triangle, the book explores love and loss, as the young characters make decisions that test their morals and sense of duty, in an attempt to outwit the Gods and their predetermined fates.

Themes: Greek mythology, Love, Adventure, Duty, Fate.

Margaret Crohn