Winter Harvest by Ioanna Papadopoulou
I would like to thank the author and Ghost Orchid press for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Ghost Orchid press
Published – Out now
Price – £12.99 paperback £3.99 Kindle eBook
When her beloved daughter Kore vanishes, Demeter is distraught. Suspecting betrayal and mistrusting of her family, she searches across the world, unable to come to terms with such a loss. But Demeter is one of the original goddesses of Mount Olympus, and a force not to be underestimated. She is determined that she will find her daughter, even if it means destroying humanity in the process.
Winter Harvest is a brand-new, dark reimagining of the tale of Demeter and Persephone by Greek author Ioanna Papadopoulou. Steeped in lore and with a deep understanding of the many different facets of Demeter’s personality, this retelling will change your perspective on one of the most well-known stories of Greek mythology.
When we hear myths for the first time they’re often full of wonder and awe. Gods, magic and mighty deeds. You get a bit older you may think ah well this is how long ago we thought the sun rose, where life came from and its all just metaphor. Then you get a little wiser and just possibly we see that all stories only give us certain views. With Ioanna Papadopoulou’s magnificent fantasy novel Winter Harvest we get a tale that takes as it’s core the tale of Demeter and Persephone but uses its in an inventive way to explore the wider Greek myths and has something to say about our changing views on gender roles and how a whole mythology from the start can be flawed.
Demeter was born and then quickly eaten by her father Kronos. As were her many siblings and only until her youngest brother Zeus found a way to free them and defeat their father could Demeter and the others start to take their rightful place as Gods of Olympos. Demeter soon had a daughter named Kore but as Demeter left Olympos to perform her own role as Goddess of Fertility then Kore vanishes. Her siblings refuse to assist. Demeter finds her darker impulses take over which will have huge consequences for the world.
I always like to give a summary and in some ways what I’ve just described is quite faithful to the original myths but this tale has a depth to the story that plunges us into experiencing what these events feel like from the perspective of someone having to endure something that we may initially find hard to imagine but also has certain aspects relevant to today. The exploration of Demeter – who she was and who she becomes as a consequence of her story is powerfully delivered and makes the reader have to ponder what has led her to her choices. In many ways Demeter in the standard myth is almost typically depicted as an over-cautious mother figure getting in the way of love between Hades and the one we more usually call Persephone. But it is fascinating in this story as the big question that Papadopoulou asks is why is Demeter like this? The answer we see dates to the very dawning of the gods.
The first quarter of the book sets that history up in a fascinating way we witness Demeter’s father eating her whole and finding her siblings there or soon joining them. It’s a very strange story for an origin myth and imagine how that make you feel then add in this mysterious younger brother you’ve never met – saying he’s rescued you but the deal is that he is now your King and he’s going to marry your mutual sister and he wants to have sex with you too! Its pretty common now to think of Zeus as one of the worst ideas for a God but this story really makes you feel the desire for constant control that he inflicts on everyone related to him. Very quicky the gendering of powers is explored too – the ‘boys’ get the powerful areas to rule – the Underworld, the Sky and the Sea while the ‘girls’ get the hearth, women and when Demeter makes a stand for it (at a personal cost) fertility of plants and creatures. The male gods see their sisters and even their children as targets for their own desires. It explains why Demeter refuses to allow herself to submit in marriage or bonds to any of the pantheon.
A key theme of this story is Demeter working out who she is. There is a contrast with the Classical Gods of Kings, family politics and palaces and the much weirder and yet also quite messed up Titans that came before them. In many ways the trauma that led to these children being eaten by their father comes out of an earlier father-son conflict which is just as destructive for those around it. I loved the way the novel makes these earlier powers feel less human, more abstract and unusual and leaves Demeter with an interesting dimension to herself she had not pondered. We tend to think of the Greek pantheon as just very human with magic and yet this story suggests Demeter has a much more powerful, darker and in her eyes a disturbingly monstrous side that reminds her of the father she hates. In the classic myth Demeter’s rage over her daughter staying in the Underworld is described purely m as an angry mother but here it’s a consequence not just of knowing her family is refusing to get involved in the wider issue of Hades taking her daughter but also in a graphic scene where Demeter’s own brother Poseidon rapes her and this leads to her having two unwanted children. Is it at all surprising then that Demeter wishes her daughter not to go anywhere near these Gods? Hades shows no sign that he is actually any better than any other Trusting Kore to him is a step too far and a theme of the male Gods wanting constant control over the women for their own ends is a powerful recurring theme throughout the story. Indeed, this story adds a different spin to Persephone’s own choices which felt refreshing too.
The arc for Demeter is a fascinating one. A middle sister, more initially viewed as a trophy for sex and pleasure by her brothers she is even only given as an afterthought what is initially considered a weaker set of powers. However, she soon discovers that she is actually far stronger than they or she imagined. Is that down to her more Titan hidden nature or that she is constantly underestimated? The rage that Demeter carries after Kore’s disappearance is mighty and, in many ways, as vindictive and petty as the other gods. We see Demeter cross the world; meeting those impacted by her refusal to bring back life to the world and also starting to find her own followers. Often in modern retellings our main characters are just the previously unacknowledged heroes but here with Demeter we must accept her just as much as she must learn to accept what she is and sometimes she is as petty as her siblings. When your power is that you can control what feeds all life on earth this means Demeter finds out that she has a bargaining tool that her family of Gods have not realised; this gives her the means to be both feared and respected by these puny humans. Indeed, as the story weaves a host of other myths into it we see Demeter grow into one of the most powerful Gods that is unlikely to be underestimated again. How she comes to view those praying to her becomes an equally powerful plot line.
I strongly recommend you get hold of Winter Harvest. Insightful, imaginative and powerful storytelling tackling different subjects and is bringing a very refreshing dimension to Greek myths which feels genuinely bringing something new to the table. I suspect after you’re read this novel that you’ll never see Demeter or the wider Greek Pantheon in the same way ever again! One of my reads of the year!
