Maestra

From the internationally bestselling author of The Song of Achilles and Circe comes a remarkable new short story

A cursed father, a gifted daughter

Mestra, daughter of the King of Thessaly, is gifted a unique ability by Poseidon: metamorphosis into any being she can imagine.

Her father, on the other hand, is cursed. As punishment for disrespecting the goddess Demeter, he is in possession of an unnatural, insatiable hunger.

Devoted Mestra suggests using her new gift to help her father. But if his hunger is bottomless, how much will he take from her? Soon she must decide: will she keep helping her father survive, or finally break free?

A jewel-like tale of human fallibility, Mestra confirms Madeline Miller as our high priestess of mythology.

Review

Packs a mighty punch . . . Miller's sentences are crystalline, not a word out of place . . . Such a rich reminder of Miller's gifts -- Jennifer Harlan ― NEW YORK TIMES

About the Author

Madeline Miller is the author of The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012, was shortlisted for the Stonewall Writer of the Year 2012, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and was translated into twenty-five languages. Madeline holds an MA in Classics from Brown University, and she taught Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students for over a decade. She has also studied at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought, and at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. Her essays have appeared in publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Lapham's Quarterly and NPR.org. She lives outside Philadelphia.