Alcestis

"[A]n engaging, subversive reimagining of the tale of the eponymous Greek heroine who is upheld as a shining example of the dutiful wife for her selfless sacrifice. Katharine Buetner's Alcestis is a far more willful heroine, and her encounters with the gods of the underworld resonate with a genuine sense of the numinous."--Jacqueline Carey, "Namaah's Kiss "and "Kushiel's Dart"

"Beutner renders her multilayered heroine with beauty and delicacy, and concerns herself with no less than the intricacies of the soul."--"Publishers Weekly"

"Everyday life in the ancient world, a no-escape-clause afterlife in the underworld, vulnerable mortals, and passionate and tormented gods--all are imagined with intense actuality in a novel that is as intoxicating and hypnotic as the sacred smoke inhaled by the oracles."--Elizabeth Knox, "The Vintner's Luck"

"Beutner spices up this classic tale with a decidedly Sapphic flavor."--"Booklist"

[A]n engaging, subversive reimagining of the tale of the eponymous Greek heroine who is upheld as a shining example of the dutiful wife for her selfless sacrifice. Katharine Buetner s Alcestis is a far more willful heroine, and her encounters with the gods of the underworld resonate with a genuine sense of the numinous. Jacqueline Carey, Namaah s Kiss and Kushiel s Dart
Beutner renders her multilayered heroine with beauty and delicacy, and concerns herself with no less than the intricacies of the soul. Publishers Weekly
Everyday life in the ancient world, a no-escape-clause afterlife in the underworld, vulnerable mortals, and passionate and tormented gods all are imagined with intense actuality in a novel that is as intoxicating and hypnotic as the sacred smoke inhaled by the oracles. Elizabeth Knox, The Vintner s Luck
Beutner spices up this classic tale with a decidedly Sapphic flavor. Booklist"

In Greek myth, Alcestis is known as the ideal wife; she loved her husband so much that she died and went to the underworld in his place. In this vividly-imagined debut, Katharine Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal and reveals the part of the story that’s never been told: What happened to Alcestis in the three days she spent in the underworld?