July 8, 2024
With this inventive spin on the Hades and Persephone myth, King (Feast of Sorrow) takes readers to Italy’s Sacro Bosco, the eponymous garden, in 1948. Amnesiac Julia Lombardi makes a living as an artist model while studying to be a painter. When an opportunity to sit for Salvador Dalí arises, Julia jumps at it, eager to witness a master at work. The gig takes her to Palazzo Orsini in Bomarzo, where the mysterious Ignazio hosts her and the dismissive, misogynistic Dalí. Julia is simultaneously drawn to and repelled by Ignazio, and he is equally obsessed with her. As painting sessions begin in the Sacro Bosco, Julia experiences strange things: the garden’s many monster statues appear to move, there’s a green glow in the woods at night, and visions of ghosts haunt her. All the while, Dalí refers to her as Proserpina, the subject she’s portraying in his painting, and tempts her with pomegranate seeds. While the core of the myth remains the same, King makes the familiar tale feel fresh with her unusual and enthralling setting, which eerily blurs the real and the surreal. This is an exciting reinterpretation. Agent: Amaryah Orenstein, Go Literary.
August 23, 2024
In 1948 Italy, model and artist Julia is hired by Salvador Dal� to serve as his muse for one week. Modeling as Proserpina (Persephone), she finds herself drawn into the surreal, haunting atmosphere of the Sacro Bosco, Italy's Garden of Monsters, where she poses all over the shadowy, statue-filled property. Julia is both intrigued and repulsed as she begins to hear voices warning her to flee and then encounters their enigmatic host, Ignazio, who knows her better than she knows herself. Statues seem to move, spontaneous earthquakes shake the table, and Dal� is desperate for Julia to eat pomegranate seeds like the goddess she's embodying. King's (The Chef's Secret) eerie third outing is full of history and art, feelings of d�j� vu and dread, and secrets and references to Greek and Roman myth. Julia is at the center of it all, drawn in and repelled by her host, the Dal� couple, and various other members of their group. All is not as it seems at the palazzo, and Julia's ties to Proserpina may be closer than she'd ever dreamed. VERDICT An atmospheric, slow-burning gothic story that will appeal to patient readers who enjoy strong settings and the surreal.--Katie Lawrence
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