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An Unexpected Ally

A Greek Tale of Love, Revenge, and Redemption

Sophia Kouidou-Giles

$32.99

Paperback

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English
Miscellaneous
08 February 2024
Powerful Circe, daughter of the sun-god Helios, is sad to see Odysseus, King of Ithaca, depart from her island, Aeaea—but her heartbreak is eased after dolphins take her to Delos, where she explores a new love relationship.

Circe has a strained relationship with her mother, Perse, but when she finally listens to Perse’s encouragement to seek out the amphibian god Glaucus, she’s glad she’s heeded her advice. Together, the two embark on underwater adventures, and Circe shares with Glaucus her knowledge about the healing and harmful power of herbs. While in Delos, she also meets and befriends Skylla, a local beauty with whom Glaucus is enthralled, although the girl is indifferent.

Circe eventually returns to Aeaea, but one day she learns, upon consulting her scrying mirror, that there is trouble in Delos that requires her immediate action. In the turbulent world of gods mingling with mortals, our heroine shifts shapes, flies, and uses her superpowers to reverse the course of evil.

In a tangle of love, hate, vengeance, and the final righting of wrongs, a cast of irresistible characters weaves an adventure laced with beauty and terror in An Unexpected Ally—a newly woven set of tales that brings to life ancient Greek myths and revives issues familiar to contemporary readers.

By:  
Imprint:   Miscellaneous
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 215mm,  Width: 139mm, 
ISBN:   9781647425555
ISBN 10:   1647425557
Pages:   256
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Sophia Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and was university educated in the US. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in social work. In her more than thirty-year child welfare career, she served as a practitioner, educator, researcher, and administrator and published articles in Greek and English professional journals. Her writing has appeared in Voices, Persimmon Tree, Assay, The Raven's Perch, The Time Collection, and The Blue Nib. Her poetry chapbook is Transitions and Passages. Her work has appeared in anthologies including The Time Collection, Visual Verse, and Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis. Her memoir, Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη/Return to Thessaloniki, was published in Greek by Tyrfi Press. The English version, Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past, was published by She Writes Press in 2021. Sophia lives in Seattle, Washington, near her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

Reviews for An Unexpected Ally: A Greek Tale of Love, Revenge, and Redemption

“Both young and old know the suffering of love’s end . . . and the disaster of wrong attraction. But if you happen to be the sorceress Circe—a shape-shifter and spell-caster—the outcomes are unrestrained by human proportion. An unforgettable story of infatuation, tragic error, and redemption for readers of all ages.” —Jean Gilbertson, author of Dancing on the Whisper of God “From the beginning pages, Sophia Kouidou-Giles pulls the reader into a magical world where Greek goddesses and gods come to life. With luminescent prose, she weaves a psychologically astute study of Circe—each chapter compels the reader on to the next. I found the novel absorbing and enlightening.” —Kathryn Crawley, author of Walking on Fire: A Novel “In this playful yet deeply impactful romp of a novel, reimagined age-old tensions refresh familiar tropes from love triangles to the battle of the sexes. Quick-paced and wildly inventive, An Unexpected Ally entertains just as much as it informs, offering enduring insights into the complexities—and compromises—that women so often find themselves compelled to make in a male-dominated world, whether in the ancient world or today. Circe and her companions are freshly vibrant and surprisingly familiar; and their story—part reimagined myth, part contemporary critique—will startle, surprise, and certainly leave you smiling.” —Susan V. Meyers, author of Failing the Trapeze


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