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Book Reviewed by:A deliciously dark horror reimagining of a Greek tragedy, by Ivy Pochoda, winner of the LA Times Book Prize.
Lena wants her life back. Her wealthy, controlling, humorless husband has just died, and now she contends with her controlling, humorless son, Drew. Lena lands in Naxos with her best friend in tow for the unveiling of her son's, pet project--the luxurious Agape Villas.
Years of marriage amongst the wealthy elite has whittled Lena's spirit into rope and sinew, smothered by tasteful cocktail dresses and unending small talk. On Naxos she yearns to rediscover her true nature, remember the exuberant dancer and party girl she once was, but Drew tightens his grip, keeping her cloistered inside the hotel, demanding that she fall in line.
Lena is intrigued by a group of women living in tents on the beach in front of the Agape. She can feel their drums at night, hear their seductive leader calling her to dance. Soon she'll find that an ancient God stirs on the beach, awakening dark desires of women across the island. The only questions left will be whether Lena will join them, and what it will cost her.
Ecstasy is a riveting, darkly poetic, one-sitting read about empowerment, desire, and what happens when women reject the roles set out for them.
Before
The young ones call me Mama Ghost because I've been at this so long.
I am a specter. A vampire. A night-creature.
You think I don't eat. You imagine I don't sleep.
I can see in the dark. I can hear what goes unsaid. I can hear your heart beat harder, faster than the DJ's dubstep, speed garage, trance buildups, jungle beats.
I've been there from the beginning-when the music was underground, when it was heavy, dark, and full of tribal calling. I was there for the first mainstream sounds, the candy and the kandi kids, the Technicolor dancers trading sticky necklaces and bug-eyed kisses on the dance floor. I'm there now, on the festival circuit, the commercial parties, the destination events. The three days of high-priced escape and brand-name DJs.
I'm there at bars. At after hours. At after-after hours.
I'm there when you need me. I keep your secrets. I've seen you at your worst. I know your bad habits. I've seen you beg and grovel. I've seen you plead for more, for favors, for just a ...
Drew takes his pregnant wife Jordan, Lena, and her friend Hedy to the Greek island of Naxos. Here, he finds himself at odds with a group of women camping on the adjoining beach. Led by Luz, an enigmatic drug dealer, the group's hedonistic lifestyle and late-night, wine-fueled dance parties threaten to spoil the carefully curated façade of glamor that Drew has cultivated. He wants the women gone, but Lena and Hedy begin attending their gatherings, strangely drawn to the group's apparent feral freedom...The character arcs primarily explore the dark side of motherhood and the taboo subject of women who regret succumbing to societal pressures to have a child. The emotional fallout of the ending is perhaps not mined as thoroughly as it could have been, but the shocking final images and wild ride leading to them are all but guaranteed to make a lasting impression...continued
Full Review
(644 words)
(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).
Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger
Fierce and fearless, Ecstasy is a tempest of a novel that reminds women that we are born forces of nature and woe be upon anyone who would stand in our way. Ivy Pochoda again proves she's a literary priestess of the highest order. Gabino Iglesias, author of House of Bone and Rain
Ecstasy is a superb and horrific reimagining of a Greek tragedy. Pochoda's writing is a lyrical scalpel reopening old wounds, dissecting abandoned dreams, and slicing to the core of motherhood and female friendship with style to spare. Don't miss it. Paul Tremblay, author of the New York Times bestseller Horror Movie
Ecstasy is a lyrical, fevered, and furious re-imagining of a classic Greek tragedy. Tense and phantasmagoric, the novel sinks its considerable teeth into the patriarchal 21st century capitalist machine. And gloriously, no one is spared.
In ancient Greco-Roman mythology, the Bacchae—also known as Maenads—were female followers of Dionysus (also known as Bacchus), god of wine and revelry. While some devoted themselves to him voluntarily, others were said to be possessed, driven mad and forced into servitude by his intoxicating power.
Dionysus journeyed throughout the land, claiming cities and enacting his rule on the population. If a city rejected his rites in service to another god, he would punish the residents by setting the women among them into a frenzy, ultimately converting them into Bacchae and bolstering his cohort.
While under the influence of Dionysus, the Bacchae were imbued with superhuman strength, capable of tearing apart animals and men ...
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