This prolific Australian author has provided her readers with historical fiction, non-fiction often based on fairytales, myths and legends, children’s books and poetry. In Psykhe, she weaves the old myth of Psyche and Eros into an engrossing story, with her Psykhe eerily beautiful with white hair and pale, pale skin.
Her mother, whom she resembled, had died giving birth to her, and with no comfort from her two older half-sisters, she clung to a maidservant who had given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when apparently born dead. There is enough fact in this story, with ancient Rome ruling the Mediterranean area, and mention of Portovenere and Lerici on the modern Italian coast, to give authenticity.
Just how Psykhe meets Eros, disguised as a lad prosaically called Ambrose, who befriends her, is the stuff of legend and myth, leading to their love affair. His stepmother, the redoubtable Venus, is no simpering wench on a scallop shell, as depicted in Botticelli’s painting, but a jealous, grasping woman who cannot bear that one of her ‘boys’ (usually charged with shooting arrows of desire into various individuals) has fallen for a mere mortal.
But Psykhe is a strong woman, and no ice-witch, as many describe her. She learnt the secrets of being a midwife and making healing herb mixtures. She even surgically delivers the baby Caesar, who goes on to establish the Roman republic. Sound familiar? Her attachment to Ambrose is not easily broken, even when Venus sends her to the Underworld as part of a test.
Everyone loves a good love story, a good fairytale or a myth. In Kate Forsyth’s capable hands, her re-telling of myths with a modern feminist imagining ticks all those boxes and shows us that mere mortals can love the gods.
Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Kate Forsyth is an award-winning author, poet, and storyteller. Her novel is The Crimson Thread, a reimagining of ‘The Minotaur in the Labyrinth’ myth set in Crete during the Nazi invasion and occupation of World War II.
Other historical novels include Beauty in Thorns, a reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ told in the voices of four women of the Pre-Raphaelite circle of artists and poet. The Wild Girl, the story of the forbidden romance behind the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales which was named Most Memorable Love Story of 2013. Bitter Greens, a retelling of ‘Rapunzel’ which won the 2015 American Library Association award for Best Historical Fiction.
Kate’s non-fiction books include Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia’s First Children’s Author, co-written by her sister Belinda Murrell, with the assistance of the Nancy Keesing Fellowship. It was longlisted for the 2021 Readings Non-Fiction Prize. Her collection of essays, The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower, won the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism in 2017.
Books for children include the Long-Lost Fairy-Tales collection, illustrated by Lorena Carrington. The first in the series, Vasilisa the Wise & Other Tales of Brave Young Women, won a silver medal in the 2018 US Readers Favorite Book awards.
Kate has a Doctorate of Creative Arts in fairy tale studies, and is also an accredited master storyteller with the Australian Guild of Storytellers. She has taught writing retreats in Australia, Fiji, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
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