The Palace of Eros
WINNER OF THE 2024 GOLDEN POPPY OCTAVIA E. BUTLER AWARD
‘A brilliant and luminous writer’ Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe
‘Riveting, sublime, magical, and wildly subversive’ Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban
‘A natural storyteller’ Washington Post
Theirs was a love that defied the gods…
Beautiful, headstrong Psyche has captured the eye of every suitor – but also the jealous gaze of Aphrodite. When she is tied to a rock to be sacrificed to a ‘monstrous husband’, no monster arrives: instead, she is spirited away by Aphrodite’s daughter Eros.
Eros, goddess of desire, can change gender at will. In her hidden palace, she visits Psyche under a cloak of darkness, unable to reveal her face. As they discover new pleasures together, Psyche is tempted to break her vow not to look…
Gloriously anarchic and seductive, Caro De Robertis’ gender-fluid retelling of this classic myth is a masterpiece.
GLOWING READER REVIEWS
‘A beautiful story about the power of autonomy’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘Heart-wrenching, hard-hitting, beautifully written, sumptuous, poetic, romantic, and (because Eros is the goddess of desire) utterly scorching in places’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘A gorgeous retelling, and one I will no doubt read again! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘Overall, stunning prose, incredible chemistry, gorgeous characters, just a beauty of a retelling!’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘I cannot tell you how much I loved this, there will never be enough words to describe how much I enjoyed the experience of reading this (and believe me there were many tears involved)’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Palace of Eros was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 19/08/24
”'A brilliant and luminous writer” - Madeline Miller, author of THE SONG OF ACHILLES and CIRCE
'A natural storyteller' WASHINGTON POST -
'De Robertis's writing harnesses… physicality and sexual energy'WALL STREET JOURNAL -
'The Palace of Eros is a riveting, sublime, magical, and wildly subversive meditation on love, sex, mythology, and belonging … brilliant and beautiful and erotic and insightful and unlike anything I've ever read. I couldn't ask for more' Cristina García -
'Effortlessly lyrical sentences' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -
'De Robertis deserves to share fans with the likes of Isabel Allende… masterly storytelling' LIBRARY JOURNAL -
'Caro De Robertis casts a bright light with all their work…Their voice is what we need to bring us back to wholeness' Luis Alberto Urrea -
'Caro De Robertis is the reason I read. It’s impossible not to fall in love with their characters, who are fierce, courageous and adventurous. Their powerful storytelling captivates the reader from start to finish' Angie Cruz -
'Caro De Robertis is a force: prepare to be astonished' R.O. Kwon -
'An engrossing queer retelling… Admirers of Madeline Miller will be pleased' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -
”'This lyrical, evocative retelling is at once intimate and expansive in De Robertis” - masterful hands' Jen St. Jude, The Chicago Review of Books
'Magnificent… THE PALACE OF EROS builds on a long history of trans and queer people rewriting history to expand the notion of what’s possible… an incredible and beautiful ode to this history' Julián Delgado Lopera, Electric Literature -