Read This Book…

As a kid, my mom introduced me to Egyptian, Greek, and Roman mythology, reading me story after story. Later, I picked up a middle grade book called Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. But all through college and into grad school, I pored over English translations of the original texts, horrified that the original stories were little like the child-friendly versions I’d first read. In Divine Might, I was delighted to rediscover these mythic figures again, but this time retold for modern times. 

We are now in a golden age of myth retellings. Everyone and their mother’s brother has been trying their hands at these myth-inspired tales, but few authors are as good as Natalie Haynes. A Thousand Ships, her retelling of the fall of Troy, made her name here in the U.S. (She’d already written other myth retellings, which were only released in the UK.) She possesses a unique way of viewing these age-old stories, teasing out ideas that make readers think about familiar characters in whole new ways.

While Haynes is more known for her fiction, Divine Might is nonfiction, each chapter examining different goddesses and their stories. Haynes steps back and asks, who is telling these women’s stories? When are these stories being told? How would these stories have been received in ancient times versus how are they perceived now? Haynes’ holistic way of viewing mythical goddesses invites readers to reexamine their own assumptions about these divine figures.

Haynes’ prose is intimate, like a friend chatting with you over coffee. She’s funny, charming, and heartwarming—sometimes all in the same paragraph. In a world saturated with myth retellings and reimaginings, Haynes’ work stands out time after time, establishing her as one of the best in the field. Everything she touches is gold.