Title: Galatea
Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Historical
Length: 27 pages
Source: I borrowed it from the library.
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
An enchanting short story from Madeline Miller that boldly reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion.
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. Now his wife, 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…
Content Warning: Sexism, emotional abuse, and imprisonment.
Review:
Possession isn’t love.
I loved the fact that Galatea’s perspective was explored in this short story as the original included some pretty sexist ideas about how women are supposed to think and behave in order to be considered good members of a family. Flipping those notions on their head was an excellent way to explore why they were wrong and what might have actually been going on with Pygmalion.
As much as I wanted to give this one a higher rating, there were too many underdeveloped ideas here for me to feel comfortable doing that. If only this had been turned into a novella or full-length novel so that the protagonist not only had more time to explain what her life with her creator was actually like but also to further solidify her plans for true independence.
One of my favorite moments occurred at the very end when the conflict was at its highest point. It involved Galatea attempting to escape and her husband attempting to capture her again and bring her back to the room where she was being held against her will. While I can’t go into any more detail about that scene, I will say that it contained kernels of what could be an excellent sequel if the author ever decides to write it!
The author shared a brief summary of the original Galatea and Pygmalion in her post-script for readers who may not be familiar with that tale, although this version does stand up on its own without that background information.
Galatea made me curious about reading more Greek myths.