Madeline Miller once again proves she is one of the best writers of this generation, this time effortlessly showcasing her massive talent in just 20 pages. This tiny short story had me feeling more emotions than some 800 page novels I’ve read. The writing was phenomenal, and the afterword packed just as much of a punch. I never knew I needed Madeline Miller talking about incels. My only complaint could only ever be I wish it was longer.

The audiobook narration by Ruth Wilson was perfect and added so much to the story.

Thank you to Bloomsbury UK and NetGalley for access to the Audiobook. All opinions are my own.

when i first read this years ago it definitely went over my head, but i am glad i went back to it. to question the 'happily ever after' of the myth and to build such a brutal, tragic and revenge-filled story in fifty pages is truly powerful.

definitely worth knowing a little about the myth before reading - but the afterword added by madeline miller is very insightful.

great audio production that really elevates the story - I'm still uncertain when I hear Yorkshire accents for Greek mythology characters but it would be hard to make distinct recognisable voices without British dialects!

While this is technically a re-read for me, it has been so many years since I first read Galatea that it felt like approaching something new, and I definitely appreciated it so much more now that I am a) older and b) gave this short story the time it deserved.

Galatea is based on the story of Pygmalion, who sculpted the ‘perfect’ woman in opposition to the flaws he saw in all the real women in the town around him. Miller uses this as a springboard to explore ideas of the male gaze, incel culture, women’s healthcare, and so much more. Drawing on both Greek myth and 20th Century feminist literature, she has proven that some themes and stories really are timeless.

This is a re-release of a short story written many years ago for a collection, now being published on its own for the first time. The people picking it up will be fans of The Song of Achilles and Circe, both known as landmark mythological novels, but I think Galatea also has a place among the best feminist literature. I hope that it becomes a must-read for anyone discovering the genre over the coming decades.

There is also brilliant narration from the amazing Ruth Wilson. The whole thing is about 45 minutes long, and it’s the best use of that time you could have. I can’t recommend this short story highly enough, and I hope it gets its deserved place as a modern classic.

I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks NetGalley and publishers for the audio arc of Galatea by Madeline Miller.

Amazing!!! Quite short, so left me wanting more. That aside, I loved this audio book.

A great short story from the same author and genre as The Song of Achilles and Circe, my only issue with Galatea is that it was over too quickly.

I listened to the audio version, beautifully narrated by the incomparable Ruth Wilson; the perfect marriage of text and reader. Loved it.

I loved the prose and the themes and message of male fantasy over female reality. Although I think it's too short and believe the characters could have been flushed out more to make it at least an hour. There could have been more substance to the overall plot. The surrealist style is not what I'm used to.

The narrator was good at delivering the sombre but appeasing tone of Galatea.

All in all, good but nothing that will stay with me.

This was a short and perfect retelling of the Pygmallion story told from the perspective of Galatea (his un-named statue in the Ovid version). The tone is almost horrific, focusing on Galatea as an imprisoned woman, doomed to the whims of her husband and forced into compliance to protect her daughter. I thought the writing and tone were excellent and although this is very short, Galatea comes through incredibly strongly as a fully fleshed out character with hopes, desires and fears. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is the first book I have read/listened to by Madeline Miller and I look forward to listening to more.

The writing style was good and I enjoyed listening. It was fast to get going which is great with a short story of approximately 45 minutes long This is a reimagining of the Greek myth of Galatea and Pygmalion.

It was beautifully narrated by Ruth Wilson who I remember watching in the Dark Matters tv series as the baddie, Marisa Coulter and she has a great voice for this kind of story so was very well executed.

Not sure of price structure for this as an audio book, but would hope it would be cheaper than a full length book or a great addition to per haps buying an existing book by Madeline Miller.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Bloomsbury UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to an Arc of this audio book,

If there's the very definition of a treat, it's a book by Madeline Miller, read by Ruth Wilson. A fantastic author and a fantastic performer - the only down side is it's just a short story (running time about 40 minutes). There are a lot of writers doing retellings of Greek myths at the moment, but Miller is the best - her writing stands out and is exceptional.

The story is told in the first person by Galatea, a woman who was brought to life from a sculpture and then forced to live as the 'wife' of her sculptor, the misogynistic Pygmalion. It's not a story I knew directly, only it's modern version as the basis of the musical 'My Fair Lady'. In Ovid's telling of the story, Galatea didn't even have a name - she was just 'the woman'. Miller gives her a voice and imagines what her life must have been like - and it's not enviable.

Miller has the talent of drawing a reader into the story immediately and making you care about her characters, so despite the short length, you get an emotional engagement and investment that many authors can't achieve with a full novel.

Ruth Wilson is the perfect narrator - her slightly husky voice has just the right quality and she reads it with all the expression and spot-on timing you'd expect from a highly regarded actress.

Whilst I wish it was longer, it's still a lovely thing in itself. Highly recommended.

Feminist retelling of Galatea, the statue-come-to-life. Short story.

Carved by Pygmalion, brought to life by Aphrodite, Galatea is her husband's sex toy - a toy with which he, Pygmalion, is losing interest.

Miller rules supreme in revisiting the classics and this is no exception.

The audiobook narrated by Ruth Wilson is captivating.

My only concern is that at a mere 45 minutes long, the cost is too high, being no different from that of a standard length audiobook.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC.

If I hadn't known this novella had been penned by Madeline Miller, I wouldn't have believed a single soul who tried to convince me it was. This is so far away from Circe and the Song of Achilles, with lacklustre characters and a unusual story-line slightly in keeping with a retelling of the Greek myth of Pygmalion.

The overall premise is that of Galatea, a statue sculpted into the form of the perfect woman who later becomes a human, married to the sculptor who created her. In part it is certainly a very obtuse look at objectifying women, domestic abuse and frankly a consideration of society's view of what the perfect woman even is. But this idea, despite being pretty good actually, is completely overshadowed by the execution.

The plot is confusing, but moreover just odd. Galatea spends most of the novella in a bed being tended to by a nurse and pretending to be a statue to appease her misogynistic husband who enjoys the idea of her being a statue coming back to life before he then gets on with sleeping with her. It's just messed up and really confronting to read - both good and important things to come across in literature for the most part. But whilst this absolutely is the point Miller is trying to make, the approach is just really messy and feels underwritten, rushed and simple - Galatea later decides now is the time to stand up to him and takes off on an impulsive adventure to retrieve her daughter from him which slightly alleviates this problem, but still maintains a basic yet somehow messy narrative. It makes sense, in large part, but just lacks the usual intricacy and compelling nature of Miller's usual writing.

I was so disappointed by this novella and whilst I really appreciate that Galatea's story showcases mistreatment of women as possessions, and does so reasonably well in concept, I think the writing and overly deliberate telling of that detracts heavily from what could have been a stark and compelling look at this. Not for me.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Galatea
by Madeline Miller

A short story by the author of Song of Achilles and Circe. This is also a feminist retelling of a Greek mythological tale, this time it's the reimagining of Pygmalion and Galatea, the Cypriot King and sculptor who's obsession with his most beautiful statue culminates in her being brought to life by the Gods.

Miller, noting the slew of reinterpretations of this myth in both classical and modern literature, challenges the inference of romance and asserts the reality of a misogynistic, fetishisation of female sexual purity. While My Fair Lady and Pretty Woman portray the artist falling in love with his own art, it sadly exemplifies the little woman, with no sense of herself or her own desires, whose sole purpose is to please a man.

Galathea overturns that ideal, instead giving voice to a strong female character who refuses to succumb to male coercive control.

At 20 pages or a half hour of listening you'd be hard pressed to find such a powerful message in so small a morsel.

Thanks to #netgalley and #bloomsburyuk for the ALC

#bookreview #audiobook #irishbookstagram #galatea #madelinemiller #greekmythology #feministliterature #feministrage

I liked this retelling of the story of pigmalian and his statue. It was rather difficult to read due to the way Galatea is treated throughout the book but it definitely strikes home the role many women hold in original mythology.

Having not read the book, I went into the audiobook not knowing much about it, and it's such a quick listen and so well narrated.

The story of the most beautiful sculpture of a woman. Her creator thought all his dreams had been answered when she came to life, but Galatea has her own thoughts and feelings, even whilst she is locked away and kept under sedation by medical staff, she plans her escape..

A beautiful but chilling short story from Madeleine Miller. I loved Circe but Song of Achilles bored me. This is a short return to the Circe effect.

The story is based on Ovid's Metamophosis/Pygmalion/My Fair Lady ... so many more. Galatea is a woman whose was born from the statue her husband created. However once created Galatea becomes her own woman and her husband resents this bitterly. So she plots her escape.

For a short story it packs a big punch. The feeling of helplessness changes to wiliness as Galatea realizes she must either buckle under or break free, for her own sake, that of her child and of the new statue that her husband has completed who may suffer the same fate as she has done.

Beautiful writing, clever interpretation. A short story well worth a read.

I listened to Madeline Miller's short story, a memorable feminist response to the Ancient Greek legend of Galatea and Pygmalion, it is powerfully narrated with a melancholic tinge by the remarkable Ruth Wilson who is a revelation, approximately 45 minutes long. Touching on themes that echo in our contemporary world for women, the story opens with Galatea, being 'cared for' in a hospital for a year, where she is worth more sick than she is well. Galatea, was originally a beautiful marble statue, made alive by the gods for the sculptor who had fallen in love with her absolute perfection. He is a controlling, abusive husband who insists she must blush or else, she has no identity nor power, that is not why she is the object of desire. In the hospital, Galatea does her best to keep everyone happy, including her husband, for she has a daughter, Paphos, whom she loves. She is a woman with a plan that concludes in the most wholeheartedly satisfying of ways. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ALC.

I jumped at the chance to have an audiobook version of this story after reading it last year. I love Pygmalion so this was really interesting to read, I loved the feminist refusal to conform however it was a little confusing and I wished it had been a novel and not just a short story. This was a beautiful story that was even more effective as an audiobook being able to engage with the narrative on a new level. It was evocative and emotional and it added so many more dimensions to the existing connection that I had to this story when I first read it.

Beautiful writing but I wanted more, I wish this was a full length novel but I enjoyed it for what it was

Fantastic short story, beautifully written, which was only made better by the great quality of the narrator.
Highly recommend this one!
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.

Madeline Miller’s writing is just beautiful and I still remember reading Circe with such fondness. She can really bring a Greek myth to life and did just that with Galatea.

I’d never heard of this story or myth but it’s written by Madeline Miller so it was worth a shot. The audiobook was greatly narrated too and it was a short, sharp hit of a hard hitting story. I love short stories as sometimes you don’t want to invest in a lengthy tale but want to rejoin a favourite author or dip into a new book without too much commitment!

We meet Galatea, from marble to life, she is the object of her husbands desires. She lives to please but her own mind is far from malleable. It was interesting to read from her perspectives and her own thought processes. I had no idea where this book was headed ans the ending was a satisfaction! Again this author effortlessly spun a myth into life and is perfect for all fans of Greek myths and snappy tales.