Here at E-Cool we’re myth-o-holics. We love nothing more on a winter afternoon than settling down in a cozy chair to read a good mythological tale. Or, even better, settling down to read a modern re-working of a good mythological tale. Thus, we’re thrilled to take some time out of our Olympian schedules this week to tell you about a hilarious new books that fast-forwards the gods right into the 21st century.
The debut novel of British author Marie Phillips, Gods Behaving Badly, finds the Olympian gods and goddesses living in a tumbledown house in modern-day London and facing a very serious problem: their powers are waning, and immortality does not seem guaranteed. In between looking for work and keeping house, the ancient family is still up to its oldest pursuit: crossing and double-crossing each other.
Apollo, who has been cosmically bored for centuries, has been appearing as a television psychic in a bid for stardom. His aunt Aphrodite, a phone-sex worker, sabotages him by having her born-again Christian son Eros shoot him with an arrow of love, making him fall for a very ordinary mortal-a cleaning woman named Alice, who happens to be in love with Neil, another nice, retiring mortal. When Artemis-the goddess of the moon, chastity and the hunt, who has been working as a dog walker-hires Alice to tidy up, the household is set to combust, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Whether you know your mythology or not, Gods Behaving Badly is full of hilarious read-aloud passages that showcase the Phillips’ uncanny ability to fast-forward the immortals and made them part of our modern and familiar world. We can’t recommend it more if you’re looking for a light-hearted read that brings the ancient gods to life.
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