Galatea: The instant Sunday Times bestseller

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Everyone looked at me, because I was the most beautiful woman in the town. I don’t say this to boast, because there is nothing in it to boast of. It was nothing I did myself.”

While we watch Galatea being denied any agency in her life and accepting a lot of abuse and made to feel it is for her own good (when Pygmalion hurts her and notices the color of the bruises left behind, he tells her ‘ You make the rarest canvas, love’), we also see her fight for the good of her daughter. The ending, which is rather darkly beautiful, is geared to the idea of protection, though retribution also inevitably factors in. In a way it is a call to break the cycles of abuse and ensure the coming generations are raised to know they do not need to accept the toxic behaviors that try to masquerade as love. I felt him looking at me, admiring his work. He had not carved me like this, but he was imagining doing it. A beautiful statue, named The Supplicant.”― Madeline Miller, Galatea Madeline Miller really has a great way of bringing to life this ancient setting and weaving the myths we know and have read with her own thoughts, filling in the blanks, sometimes changing a few details in the process.

The thing is, I don't think my husband expected me to be able to talk. I don't blame him for this exactly, since he had known me only as a statue, pure and beautiful and yielding to his art." So, this is a very strong short story. I would love to see more like it from Miller, a collection of them would certainly be great. For now, I will continue to read everything she writes. In short, Galatea was a story that was underwritten and underwhelming. There was no depth to the characters, little substance to the storyline and the underlying themes of objectifying women, domestic abuse and obsession with beauty and perfection, although powerful didn’t really get going.

This short tale covers issues such as patriarchy, misogyny, the creation and appreciation of art, the value put upon beauty, as well as feminine desire and autonomy. In her own note on the tale at the end of the book, Miller herself perfectly sums it up: Questi sono gli interrogativi dai quali parte Madeleine Miller per costruire il suo racconto denso e disturbante. Ma Galatea ama Pigmalione? La vita con lui è la vita che sognava per sé stessa? È moglie libera e amata o donna trofeo della quale ci si stanca in fretta ed esiste solo in funzione della gelosia altrui?Galatea was quite an interesting concept and with a reimagining and retelling of the Greek Myth Pygmalion, it was sure to entice fans of Madelaine Miller. It was this premise and loving Miller’s previous works, Song of Achilles and Circe, that brought me to this short story. I felt him looking at me, admiring his work. He had not carved me like this, but he was imagining doing it. A beautiful statue, named The Supplicant. He could have sold me and lived like a king in Araby." Enough magic, enchantment, voyages and wonders to satisfy the most jaded sword-and-sorcery palate’ Guardian Miller weaves an intoxicating tale of gods and heroes, magic and monsters, survival and transformation’ i People began to talk about the sculptor’s wife, and how strange she was, and how such beauty comes only from the gods.’