Ecstasy, Ivy Pochoda

**SPOILERS BELOW**

I thought this was AMAZING.

Much as I love true-to-period retellings of Greek mythology, I'm always more partial to a modern retelling. This captured the very essence of The Bacchae (one of my favourite tragedies): every roar, every squirm, every rasping beat.

Rich, dissatisfied widow Lena is our Agaue, and, in a contemporary setting, her tragedy hits home all the more extravagantly than in Euripides' play (in my very humble opinion, sorry Euripides). Reading the events in a novel format allows for a deep exploration of the characters and their motivations, which, depending on the production, can sometimes be light-touch.

I actually really enjoyed the treatment of Dionysus, here. He's less of a character (a powerful, chained figment in an ancient, abandoned cave) and more of a force of nature whipping through the psyche of his believers.

I'm going to recommend this to everyone! It was a joy spotting all of the references to the source material... I wish I could ask the author:

Pentheus = Drew... PENtheus = drew/drawing... or am I overthinking things? Most likely.