The rest of the book concerns what happened to Ariadne afterwards, tying this into Phaedra’s own tale. We begin in the Palace of Knossos, where we spend the first 100 pages going over the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The story centres around the princesses of Crete – Ariadne, and her younger sister, Phaedra. What I did not know was that I had hit upon a truth of womanhood: However blameless the life we lead, the passions and the greed of men could bring us to ruin, and there was nothing we could do.

I would not describe Saint’s writing as lyrical, but it is extremely digestible, and though this novel is more interested in the characters’ thoughts and feelings than their actions and experiences, it gallops with pace, feeling much shorter than 380 pages. In its defence, Ariadne does bring some good qualities to the table. Circe is by far the subtler, more engaging of the two works. The narratives are also thematically similar, exploring and questioning patriarchal power structures. Both are first-person narratives about descendants of the sun god, Helios, and both centre around lone women who find themselves trapped on their own personal Greek island.

I think this is in part because the book has so many parallels with Circe. I have read a fair few of these modern takes on ancient tales now, and compared to the works mentioned above, I must admit I found Ariadne somewhat underwhelming. Marketed with a feminist slant, it shelves squarely in the niche carved by authors such as Madeline Miller ( The Song of Achilles and Circe) and Natalie Haynes ( A Thousand Ships). Jennifer Saint’s debut novel, published in 2021, is a Greek myth retelling.

Jennifer saint ariadne review