Like most teenagers, Persephone struggled under her mother's rule. Demeter leaves Persephone alone so frequently, and the girl is lonely and aching for companionship. She has her friends and her weaving, but is always treated as the protected darling of Demeter.
Persephone wants more from her life and aches for freedom. When she spies a strange man in her lands, she seeks him out rather than hide away as her mother would wish. Drawn inexorably to her fate -- to Hades, the man she will grow to love -- Persephone makes the bold decision to leave her life behind and descend below and become Hades' queen.
But when Persephone learns of her mother's grief that is destroying the world and killing mortals, she is torn by the pain of it. How can she stand by and let her decision bring about the deaths of so many?
In the pages of RADIANT DARKNESS, Ms. Whitman explores much more than an age-old myth. She delves into the soul-searing struggle that pervades every generation -- the girl's battle for an identity separate from her mother. Maybe this book will even shed light for some girls on their mother's motives, so clearly understood in the end by Persephone. A beautiful book, smoothly flowing with language and emotions and buried not too deeply, lessons.
It's a deep voice. I can feel it
reverberate in my chest and echo all the way down to my
toes.
I know I should leave, but I don't want to.
I want to keep my senses like this forever. I'm all eye,
all ear, all skin.
Persephone lives in the most
gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess,
as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become
a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of
escaping the life that's been planned for her, a
mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises
something moreβsomething dangerous and excitingβsomething
that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice
that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth
itself.
In a land where a singing river can make
you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to
discover whoβand whatβshe really is.
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