The Dark Wife [Kindle Edition]

Sarah Diemer (Author)

Book Description

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth.

Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice.

Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny.

But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.

The Dark Wife is a YA novel, a lesbian revisionist retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth. It won the 2012 Golden Crown Literary Award for Speculative Fiction.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Diemer is an indie author and storyteller. She writes stories about courageous young ladies who love other ladies, makes jewelry out of words and wire and loves her wife more than anything ever. Find out more at http://www.oceanid.org

Product Details

• File Size: 390 KB
• Print Length: 264 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0050K7NCI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,321 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, fast-paced fantasy May 30, 2011

By Rachelphoenix

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This excellent mythic retelling of the story of Persephone and Hades, re-imagined as a lesbian romance, is gripping, beautifully written, and sensual.

Unlike many self-published books, this one was clearly put out by the author solely because of its "edgy" lesbian content, not because it wasn't good enough for mainstream publication. It's very well-written and well-structured, and in a less homophobic and sex-negative world, it might well have come out from a YA fantasy publisher, sold well, and maybe picked up a few awards. Highly recommended.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Romance and So Much More... May 18, 2011

By Kat K. Munro

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I expected The Dark Wife to be a romantic lesbian Young Adult retelling of the Persephone and Hades myth, a sort of modernized, supernatural love story underground. That turned out to be only the surface layer of an empowering, emotional, spiritually rich journey of one young woman who, with uncommon courage and compassion, overcame the impossible in charting a destiny of her own making to become one of the most powerful and enduring Goddesses of all time.

Persephone reclaims her life from those who sought to control her. She refused to allow men, whether Gods or mortals, to determine her fate or to write her history. She follows her heart to lasting love, yes, but more importantly she found within herself a Goddess to believe in.

This book healed my psyche. My tears soothed the bitter, broken places inside me that have felt victimized and powerless. Persephone's triumph reignited my own belief in my inherent goodness and strength. I was reborn, along with Persephone, in the retelling of her myth. Persephone is a role model, not just for lesbian women and girls, but for females everywhere.

Reclaim your power and live, fearlessly, with heart.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Mythology May 20, 2011

By Madeline Claire

Format:Kindle Edition

From the first page to the last, THE DARK WIFE ensnared me. The prose is lyrical and sumptuous, and the world of the Greek gods and goddesses comes alive on the page, especially in the author's descriptions of the Underworld.

I followed Persephone's story with empathy, because she represents so much of what we all experience as we come of age. This book is much more than a love story, and much more than a re-telling of a myth. It is a reclaiming of a story that, although familiar to most, has been twisted over the centuries and turned into the story of Persephone's rape instead of Persephone coming-into-her-own. Sarah Diemer reclaims the goddess's real divinity in this original interpretation, empowering Persephone, women, and children of imperfect parents everywhere (hello everyone).

Stories like these can change a life, and change the world. I cannot recomment THE DARK WIFE enough.

More About the Author

Sarah Diemer is an award-winning author of lesbian young adult (YA), speculative fiction. She lives in a purple-doored cottage in Western New York with her beloved wife, several furred creatures and a few mischievous pixies. She enjoys covering things in glitter (and putting them on Etsy), and is a professional fairy. She is addicted to tea.

Her debut novel, The Dark Wife, the YA, lesbian retelling of the Persephone myth, won the 2012 Golden Crown Literary Award for Speculative Fiction, and was nominated for a Parsec Award (first two chapters of the audiobook). Sarah also had the honor of winning the Kissed by Venus "Fresh Voices" Short Story Competition.

She writes her lesbian adult fiction under the pen name Elora Bishop, including the Sappho's Fables: Lesbian Fairy Tales series, which she co-writes with her wife, author Jennifer Diemer.