An Unexpected Ally: A Greek Tale of Love, Revenge, and Redemption

by Sophia Kouidou-Giles

Overview

Powerful Circe, daughter of the sun-god Helios, is sad to see Odysseus, King of Ithaca, depart from her island, Aeaea—but her heartbreak is eased after dolphins take her to Delos, where she explores a new love relationship.

Circe has a strained relationship with her mother, Perse, but when she finally listens to Perse’s encouragement to seek out the amphibian god Glaucus, she’s glad she’s heeded her advice. Together, the two embark on underwater adventures, and Circe shares with Glaucus her knowledge about the healing and harmful power of herbs. While in Delos, she also meets and befriends Skylla, a local beauty with whom Glaucus is enthralled, although the girl is indifferent.

Circe eventually returns to Aeaea, but one day she learns, upon consulting her scrying mirror, that there is trouble in Delos that requires her immediate action. In the turbulent world of gods mingling with mortals, our heroine shifts shapes, flies, and uses her superpowers to reverse the course of evil.

In a tangle of love, hate, vengeance, and the final righting of wrongs, a cast of irresistible characters weaves an adventure laced with beauty and terror in An Unexpected Ally—a newly woven set of tales that brings to life ancient Greek myths and revives issues familiar to contemporary readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647425555
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sophia Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and university educated in the USA. Her work has appeared in Voices, Persimmon Tree, Assay, The Raven’s Perch, Story Wits, Women Writers Women Books, The Fantasy Hive, and The Blue Nib. Her poetry chapbook is Transitions and Passages. Her work has appeared in anthologies, including The Time Collection, Visual Verse, and Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis. She is also the author of the memoir Επιστροφ Στη Θεσσαλονκη/Return to Thessaloniki, published in Greek (Tyrfi Press); Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past (She Writes Press); and the novella An Unexpected Ally (She Writes Press). Giles loves music, walking outdoors and travel. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, near her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

Editorial Reviews

2024 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Bronze Medal Winner in Fiction General
2023 American Writing Awards Finalist in Fiction: Fantasy

“Kouidou-Giles creates an unexpectedly vivid, moving story of clashes between titans and the disparate forces around them. This lends a flavor of epic fantasy adventure to the read that will draw audiences from mythology, fantasy, and fiction genres alike. Libraries and readers seeking evocative, compelling stories about new alliances and power plays will find An Unexpected Ally builds on Greek myth and psychological insights to create a story that is thought-provoking and thoroughly engrossing on many different levels.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Kouidou-Giles's novella is a tale of women taking back their stories. The prose is mesmerizing and the journey heartfelt. Few legends of this time end well for women, and this novella is a refreshing glimpse of ancient world beauty, sisterhood, and new beginnings. Recommended!”
—Historical Novel Society

“Author Sophia Kouidou-Giles has crafted a work that masterfully intertwines ancient Greek mythology with timeless themes of humanity, offering readers a captivating narrative filled with beauty and intrigue from start to finish. . . . An Unexpected Ally is a must-read for fans of Greek history, mythology, and interpersonal drama.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“Sophia Kouidou-Giles delights us from beginning to end in this modern retelling of the sorceress Circe. Inventive and captivating, An Unexpected Ally deserves a sequel.”
—Susan Ayres, professor, author of Walk Like the Bird Flies

“Both young and old know the suffering of love’s end . . . and the disaster of wrong attraction. But if you happen to be the sorceress Circe—a shape-shifter and spell-caster—the outcomes are unrestrained by human proportion. An unforgettable story of infatuation, tragic error, and redemption for readers of all ages.”
—Jean Gilbertson, author of Dancing on the Whisper of God

“From the beginning pages, Sophia Kouidou-Giles pulls the reader into a magical world where Greek goddesses and gods come to life. With luminescent prose, she weaves a psychologically astute study of Circe—each chapter compels the reader on to the next. I found the novel absorbing and enlightening.”
—Kathryn Crawley, author of Walking on Fire: A Novel

“In this playful yet deeply impactful romp of a novel, reimagined age-old tensions refresh familiar tropes from love triangles to the battle of the sexes. Quick-paced and wildly inventive, An Unexpected Ally entertains just as much as it informs, offering enduring insights into the complexities—and compromises—that women so often find themselves compelled to make in a male-dominated world, whether in the ancient world or today. Circe and her companions are freshly vibrant and surprisingly familiar; and their story—part reimagined myth, part contemporary critique—will startle, surprise, and certainly leave you smiling.”
—Susan V. Meyers, author of Failing the Trapeze

“Exploring An Unexpected Ally by Sophia Kouidou-Giles was an unforeseen, delicious surprise. Sophia Kouidou-Giles’ novella deftly eschews such bland storytelling, providing us instead with characters who, despite their superhuman powers, are nonetheless flawed, which adds extra spice to the narrative mix. Furthermore, we also have the opportunity to explore the experiences of women endowed with power, ingenuity and, importantly, a convincing voice.”
—Clare Morris, poet, author of Devon Maid Walking, and Editor of The Blue Nib

From the Publisher

2023-05-25
Kouidou-Giles’ novel revisits an epic poem as a heartbroken Circe seeks love after Odysseus leaves her to return home.

In Homer’s Odyssey, little is said about the fate of Circe, the goddess, once Odysseus is finally liberated from her captivity. The author imagines Circe’s attempt to recover from Odysseus’ departure from her secluded island, Aeaea, and the “monotony and boredom” she experiences in her loneliness, a melancholy solitude affectingly depicted by Kouidou-Giles. Circe’s interest is piqued when Odysseus tells her of Glaucus, an amphibious god who began his life inauspiciously as a fishmonger. She becomes immediately infatuated with him—she too had an “insignificant start in the world” as an ordinary nymph, and both share an abiding interest in the “ancient arts” of occult magic. Circe is encouraged to woo Glaucus by her mother, Perse, with whom she suffers a strained relationship, and travels to Delos to meet him. She quickly realizes, to her profound disappointment, that he is already deeply in love with Skylla, a “local, young beauty.” Skylla does not return Glaucus’ affections, but that doesn’t deter him at all. Circe returns to her own island, forlornly alone again, but receives news that Glaucus is in terrible trouble, punished for some egregious transgression by the Furies. She must determine, despite her wounded feelings, whether she can help him (and if she even wants to). The author astutely chooses the story of Circe to reimagine—she is a fascinating character. Kouidou-Giles’ depiction of Skylla’s transformation from a beautiful, young woman into a “monster dog” is impressively inventive. However, the plot is tiresomely slow and uneventful. The author’s prose shows flashes of wit—when the Olympian gods take an interest in Circe’s adventures, the narrator comments, “It was a slow news day on the mountain.” But these passing moments of comic relief are not enough to salvage this otherwise frustratingly unhurried tale.

A leaden pace and a lack of drama deflate this intriguing take on Greek mythology.

Kirkus Reviews