I really enjoyed this as a short story.

I think it was a good representation of a strong woman who is in an awful situation but is really doing her best to get out of it.

I do wish it was longer but only because I enjoyed the characters and the authors writing was so good.

It actually made me go and buy Circe so I can read more from this author!

Short but exactly executed! Galatea is a gothic exploration of female oppression and liberation. The narrator did a superb job at adding nuance in her tone and inflexions that made this very short audiobook a performance.

Great retelling and wonderfully narrated.

This is a great length of audiobook to introduce listeners to Miller, Greek myths, and/or audiobooks - would definitely recommend it as a starter to audio listen. Ruth Wilson kicks it out of the park and makes you wishing for more.

Such a beautiful short story, the narration was also wonderful, Ruth did a fantastic job and I could not have asked for anything more from this book. Madeline Miller truly is such a talented writer and I cannot wait to explore more of their works.

An old story (not a familiar one to me), well told with a contemporary edge which hints at themes of femineity and masculinity. I really enjoyed the story, but Ruth Wilson's narration was just downright brilliant and excellently suited to the central character. She's a tragic character but with a harshness to her. To be honest, I could listen to Ruth Wilson reading anything at all for hours on end, but this short story is a gift to her and her distinctive voice.

A small morsel of feminist rage and revenge.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Audio for the audiobook arc in exchange for a review!

A marble sculptor has created the most beautiful ‘woman’, breathing into her life. But it’s a life she feels chained to, one she wants more from. Imprisoned, we experience an extremely short period inside her head as she cast her own stones ;).

And then he pressed his lips onto mine. “Live”, he said. “Oh live, my life, my love, live.”
And that’s when I’m supposed to open my eyes like a dewy fawn, and see him poised over me like the sun, and make a little gasping noise of wonder and gratitude, and then he fucks me.

I listened to this in one go whilst showering and eating breakfast so it’s easy, digestible, yet shocking.
Madeline Miller, queen of highlighting strong underrated voices in Greek Mythology.

An unexpected twist to the Pygmalion and Galathea romance story I was expecting!
It’s a super short story, mostly consisting of Galatheas thoughts and memories, but it brought a very clear picture to my mind.
It’s an impactful story about misogyny, an abusive partnership and what it means to be different.
Madeline Millers writing is beautiful and poetic as always, she creates a world inside your head with just a few words each time.
I absolutely loved the authors note, it added so much more depth and understanding to the book after reading such a dark and heavy story.
I have to say that I’d have liked a TW at the beginning though, because there were some very dark themes including rape and suicide.

Short story leaves you wanting more, Enchanting story of a beautiful statue who has come alive and her domineering husband. Sounds weird i know, but just surrender to the lovely writing and enjoy the story. You will read in one sitting, amazing little story. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

This is a great short story to introduce those new to mythological fiction but also those familiar with the genre. I think I prefer this is an audiobook rather than a print version - Ruth Wilson's narration is perfect! I enjoyed the afterword from Madeline Miller which helps to explain the origins and motivation for writing the story.

I adored both Circe and Song of Achilles so it was an easy pick.
Losely based on pygmalion, a sculpter is discenchated by the average woman, and creates his ideal in stone, which comes alive.
The narrator is the nameless woman, his wife, his muse, the mother of their half stone half human child.
She is locked up in a hospital and kept there.
The book explores domestic abuse in a very interesting way. I both wish the book was shorter and longer.
The book was narrated by the very talented Ruth Wilson. She could narrate a phonebook and make it appealing.
Highly recommend this disturbing and fascinating short story.
ARC was provided by Netgalley

As a massive Madeline Miller fan, it came to no surprise that I loved this. Miller's writing is so incredibly beautiful, I'm in awe every time I read something of hers. The tone, the style, the storytelling...Miller does not miss. This pretty true to the story of Galatea, I just wished this was longer. However, for as short as this is, it sure took me on an emotional journey. I laughed, I got angry, I was disgusted and I my heart broke. All in a matter of 20 pages.

A great short story that has left me wanting to read more by the author. I didn’t realise this was a short story so was disappointed when it ended! Great narration too.

As all the other reviews have said, really. Brilliant.
This is a short story that has had me researching the legends of Pygmalion etc, then coming back to the story again. The Afterword by Madeline Miller helped bring out the detail, after the first reading of it, and then I wanted to know more. The story itself is inspiring, although short. And might be a difficult read for any woman who has been treated as a non-person of no importance. But it will help them feel more powerful!
I read Circe years ago, and would rate this even higher. Perhaps better for being shorter? But I have knocked off a star - only because Audible is charging the same price for this story which lasted less than an hour, as it is for the full book Circe, and I would have felt short-changed if I'd paid £7.99 for it. However, that doesn't mean it isn't a great story!

Rating - 3.5 stars rounded off to 4

A short story that can certainly become a big novel!

Thanks NetGalley & Bloomsbury UK audio for the ALC.

The narrator does a wonderful job with Galatea. I was fascinated to learn that she was the most beautiful woman carved by the highly skilled sculptor Pygmalion & blessed in to life by a Goddess.

Galatea is coerced into a life of subservience by the possessive control freak that is her husband, which was so enraging! But I was impressed by how determined she was to give her daughter a life of freedom & dreamt of a better future.

This is sadly one of those short stories where it is all over by the time I am only beginning to get invested in the story & characters. This certainly deserves in-depth exploration & I hope Miller takes this up separately as a book just like she did with Circe, which I loved.

Although only a short story, Madeline Miller packed a lot of emotion and detail into this book. You could really feel Galatea’s desire to break away and be something more than just an object for her husband to lust after whenever the mood took him. I felt the pain Galatea had for her daughter, and was hoping she could escape to allow her daughter a better life.
I haven’t read this myth before or any of its retellings, and this definitely felt like the most sympathetic version. I’m not sure how much I would enjoy reading about a man who brought a woman to life just because she was beautiful. This story gave Galatea hopes and feelings and fears. Once again, it is always a pleasure to hear the voice Madeline Miller gives to women who were previously a name or a throw-away line.
Despite the brevity of the story, we still got a glimpse into a larger world and city and culture, where women could only be taught by governesses for fear that they would tempt other men. I found it really interesting!

As expected, absolutely perfection. I adore Madeline Miller and no paragraph I write in this could ever do her justice.

After reading the book this time last year, and enjoying parts but struggling to understand Galatea’s motivations, I was a bit doubtful of picking up this Audiobook but I wanted to give it another go, and I was pleasantly surprised. Read beautifully, with each character coming through crystal clear, listening to this format of the story really got through to me in a way I think this book needs. Feminist, strong willed and unwilling to be silenced, this book tells Galatea’s story in a way that the original myth of Pygmalion tried to suppress, but with the help of Madeline Miller now grows untamed. Devoted to her daughter and fighting to change her story, Galatea fights against the man who viciously claimed her as his own and also against the Gods’ plan for her. This insight into Galatea’s slightly twisted but justified thoughts and actions is a needed nod to the story previously untold, dismantling Galatea as the pliant wife of clearly misogynistic Pygmalion, and releasing her as a character in her own right, despite how short the story is and the limits this brings to character growth.

This format of the story helped me to see her motivations more clearly than I previously had, and allowed me to feel like her character was more real, more tangible now that I could hear her speaking her own story. I enjoyed the story a lot more this time around, and the afterword also included from Madeline Miller was a lovely touch, and the perfect summary of how relevant these stories of old still are today in the modern world, where unfortunately in the grand scheme of things, not all that much has changed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC audiobook of 'Galatea' by Madelline Miller.

I have previously read Miller's 'Galatea' but when the audiobook Arc was going round voiced by THE Ruth Wilson (aka Mrs Coulter in His Dark Materials and Jane Eyre in the best version of Jane Eyre) I knew I had to try again. I did say in my previous review that this was much better than Miller's other two novels 'Circe' and 'The Song of Achilles' and I still do agree with that.

My previous review said that this novel would be much nicer as an audiobook and Ruth Wilson confirms that theory. With Ruth's perfect acting you can feel the emotion of Galatea and her true story. Perfection.

This little novella certainly packs a punch.

A reimagining of Pygmalion with a feminist twist. When a sculptors statue is brought to life by the Gods, he marries her and expects her to play the dutiful wife. A brilliant disection of the male gaze. Galatea is cold but smart, and the perfect vessel to discuss these themes.

The language used is beautifully descriptive- as you come to expect from Miller's work. I also really enjoyed the afterword from the author.

I listened to this on audiobook and Ruth Jones really breathed life into the character ;)

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Short and sweet! I found Galatea’s character fascinating though her story’s incredibly sad and a little bit weird. Despite being a short story, it has a lot to say about male expectations of women and the male gaze. Galatea is clever and calculating, and forms herself into the person other people want her to be, subservient and accommodating. Until she isn’t. Details of her past, of raising her daughter, also show her to have a rebellious side and she’s clearly underestimated by everyone around her. All in all, a bit of an icon - and Ruth Wilson brought her to life (no pun intended) perfectly with her narration!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.