Re-visioning, Not Retelling, a Myth

I loved Shannon Hale's book, The Goose Girl. It's based on a fairy tale I heard over and over growing up, about a poor victimized princess who is stripped of everything, even her identity, and is forced to walk daily past the head of her dead horse as it intones, "Ah! If your mother only knew, her heart would surely break in two!" But in Hale's book, the girl is actually liberated by being demoted from princess to goose girl, and she takes control of her life. The book opened my eyes.

When I realized I was going to write the story of Persephone, I knew from the start I couldn't just retell the myth. That Persephone is the ultimate victim: abducted, forced to marry, desperate to escape, dependent on her powerful mother for salvation. Instead, I envisioned a Persephone with the strength she needs, making her own choices and dealing with their consequences.

Persephone is at a stage in her life that's all about transition, stepping from one plane of life into another. She helps me keep asking: How do I want to live? Who do I want to be—need to be—to be fully alive?