Spotlight On: Jennifer Saint
Hello, I’m Jennifer Saint and my debut novel Ariadne is out on 29th April 2021 with Wildfire Books in the U.K. and on 4th May 2021 with Flatiron Books in the U.S.
It’s a retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, but written from the perspective of the woman who saved the hero: Ariadne herself. As the Princess of ancient Crete, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
Your novel is a brilliant feminist retelling of an ancient Greek myth – were there any parts of your research that particularly surprised or captivated you?
I knew that in Ariadne and Phaedra’s stories, both women were punished for the actions of men. But while I was researching more deeply, I found so many stories in myth that share this theme. I found far more stories than I could include in the novel in the end, but the ones I chose to weave a backdrop of the misogyny and brutality of ancient myth were ones that I felt really reflected and enhanced the main stories of my protagonists.
For example, Medusa, who is transformed into a snake-headed Gorgon as punishment for being raped by Poseidon in Athene’s temple. Her tale is so tragic and enraging; I really wanted to highlight the injustice of it. And Pasiphae, of course, Ariadne’s mother who was cursed to fall in love with a bull and so bear the terrible Minotaur all because of her husband’s hubris and disdain for Poseidon. A lot of the myths were familiar to me already, but I was surprised to find the story of Scylla (not the dog-headed monster of The Odyssey) – daughter of a magical king who, like Ariadne, chose to betray her family for the enemy and suffered the consequences. Scylla’s fate is the Prologue of my novel as I felt it so perfectly encapsulated the themes I was going on to explore and serves as a dire warning for Ariadne.
This is one of the things that I love about Greek myth and that keeps drawing me back to it – there are always more stories to uncover and always fresh perspectives from which to view them.
What has been a highlight of the publishing process so far, and what are you most looking forward to?
There are so many highlights, it’s hard to choose! Being signed by Juliet was probably the most exciting part – it was when I truly believed I was going to be an author. Selling the novel in a pre-empt to Wildfire in the U.K. and then getting the offer from Flatiron Books in the U.S. was almost too overwhelming to take in at the time – the first few weeks after that, I think I was just in a daze. Of course, everything turned upside down in 2020 and it’s been a strange experience to have so many wonderful things on the horizon but to be spending most of my time at home, juggling home-schooling and writing. Writing is a very solitary pursuit, so what has been truly invaluable in this time is the support online from debut writers’ groups to book bloggers and people in the publishing industry who are so generous with their kind words and helpful advice – not to mention the fantastic books I’ve had the privilege to read! Something I am really looking forward to, apart from realising a lifelong ambition to see my book in bookshops, is also seeing my work in translation. We have sold foreign rights in five other territories and I’ve recently had a sneak peek at the German cover which was such a thrill!
What was your journey to gaining representation like, and what advice would you give to writers who are submitting to literary agents?
I had a slightly unusual journey to representation and I would advise writers to do some things quite differently to me! I was only halfway through my first draft of Ariadne when I first made contact with Juliet. I had started following a lot of writers, agents and publishers on Twitter (which is something I absolutely would advise writers to do) and I’d attended one of Juliet’s masterclasses. She was my dream agent so when a writer called Amy Mason held an auction to raise money for Immigrant Families Together, a cause which was close to my heart already, I was keen to contribute. Juliet had offered a lot for sale at the auction which comprised a critique of the first fifty pages of a novel and accompanying cover letter, so it was a no-brainer for me to bid on that. When Juliet read the first fifty pages of Ariadne, she asked for the full manuscript – cue panic from me as I hadn’t written it! I was in a very exciting but also panic-inducing situation of having a brilliant agent interested in my work and worrying that I needed to write it quickly before she lost interest. It certainly motivated me to finish my first draft but I would always say to writers submitting to literary agents to have a completed and polished draft completely ready well in advance!
The other thing I would say to writers getting ready to submit their work is to really believe in yourself. I spent years thinking that being an author was an unrealistic ambition that would never come true but I came to realise that the main reason I wasn’t an author was that I hadn’t written a book! I had to stop making excuses and write it and part of that meant not being embarrassed to admit that this was something I really wanted to do.
What are you working on at the moment? / What are you writing next?
My second novel tells the story of the women whose lives are shattered in one way or another by Agamemnon. Clytemnestra, the wife whom he unforgivably and terribly betrays before embarking on the Trojan War; Cassandra, the woman he abducts from Troy, and Elektra, the adoring daughter he left behind. It’s been enormously challenging trying to write and edit during lockdowns with my young children at home all the time but when I can carve out the time, it is a very welcome escape to another world! The women in this book are such powerful figures in mythology that it does feel daunting to tackle them, but I love their characters and stories so much, I found them too compelling to resist. I hope I can do them justice!