I didn't think I could love Jennifer Saint's books more... and then she wrote Hera. Hera is
an exceptional achievement - Jennifer Saint immerses us into a vibrant, magical world, with a wonderfully compelling heroine, yet also examines so many profound and complex ideas around the mythology, wearing her deep knowledge of the subject so lightly. Hera is
an incredibly gripping tale of passion, power and retribution. It is also
one the most original, thought provoking meditation on ancient mythology I have ever encountered.
In
Hera, Jennifer Saint has portrayed her protagonist, not as the jealous and vengeful wife of legend but as a fierce resistor of authority, who is driven by a desire to regain her lost equality in a world defined by cruelty and destruction. Saint has a knack of making even the immortals relatable and
she brings this most dysfunctional of families into vivid life in her thrilling depiction of a much misunderstood Goddess.
Hera is a sweeping, epic story of Greek mythology's most complex goddess. Jennifer Saint weaves her own original threads into the ancient tales, resulting in a story that is
subtle, nuanced, and utterly gorgeous.
With echoes of Miller's
Circe,
Hera is
an epic novel that follows the queen of the gods through her battle against the Titans, her marriage, and her quest for vengeance. The goddess is transformed from a bad-tempered wife to
a compelling character readers can root for, even when she is being wicked. With
an unforgettable cast of characters (Gaia, Hestia, Demeter and so many more), Hera tells us the story of the Greek gods and their unending quest for power, their ambition, their passion and retribution and, finally, their relationship with mortals.
Hera is
Jennifer Saint's best book yet, and
every bit as fierce, powerful and captivating as the Queen of the Gods herself. For too long Hera has been relegated to the sidelines of mythology, serving as the comic punchline, the 'nagging wife'. In
Hera, Saint rips the Queen of the Gods out from Zeus' shadow, letting her blaze her own path through these famous myths.
Saint does a masterful job of humanising Hera without detracting from her divine power, she is still a fearsome queen but through
Saint's expert storytelling we are able to understand and sympathise with Hera like never before. This is
a must-read for fans of mythology!