Description

Girl meets boy. It’s a story as old as time. But what happens when an old story meets a brand new set of circumstances?

Ali Smith’s remix of Ovid’s most joyful metamorphosis is a story about the kind of fluidity that can’t be bottled and sold. It is about girls and boys, girls and girls, love and transformation, a story of puns and doubles, reversals and revelations. Funny and fresh, poetic and political, here is a tale of change for the modern world.

The Myths series brings together some of the world’s finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.

Publisher Review

Exuberant . . . Slender, sweet natured and lyrical * * Guardian * * Joyful -- JEANETTE WINTERSON * * The Times * * Girl Meets Boy pulls you in and doesn't let you go . . . bold and brilliant -- JACKIE KAY A glorious wide-awake dream of a book . . . My heart was beating and tears stood in my eyes, even as I had the biggest smile written all over my face -- KIRSTY GUNN * * Observer * * Poetic . . . Smith remembers what the ancients knew: that musical words drum a beat through to understanding * * The Times * * Clever, complex and thrilling * * TLS * * A joyful and playful remix . . . The result is an ecstatic, exhilarating helter-skelter ride of a story which shows just how relevant Ovid's myth of the transformative power of love is to modern readers * * Financial Times * * Those familiar with Smith's playfully inventive fiction will not be disappointed by this light-as-air retelling of Ovid's tale . . . this jolly jeu d'esprit wears its heart defiantly on its sleeve * * The Times * * [A] whimsical spin on the myth of Iphis and Ianthe . . . mischief, enchantment and impish wit . . . [Smith's] dancing prose and nimble storytelling are palpable hits * * Sunday Times * * In this modern-day reinterpretation, Ali Smith, with humour and typical linguistic versatility, explores issues of homophobia, corporate and social responsibility and the sheer vertiginous feeling of falling in love * * Independent on Sunday * *