Hi all! I’m back again with another Top 5 Wednesday. And this week’s topic is favourite retellings of myths, fairytales and/or literature.

Before we get onto the books I would like to mention that Top 5 Wednesday was created over on BookTube by the wonderful Laniey at gingerreadslaniey. Also you can check out the Goodreads page for past and future topics.  Now onto my Top 5 retellings. The books are listed in chronological no particular order.

#1 Cassandra by Kerry Greenwood

I love Greek Mythology and especially love anything to do with the Trojan War. Cassandra is an amazing retelling of the events of the Iliad filtered through Cassandra’s point of view. Cassandra is a Trojan Princess and a prophet. She is given her gift from the God, Apollo but it turns sour when she refuses to sleep with the God. In revenge Apollo makes sure no one believes her visions. Not long after she sees the fall of Tory and can’t do anything to stop it. Greenwood’s writing is beautiful. This is defiantly one to add to your TBR.

#2  Gretel in Darkness – Louise Gluck

Gluck is an amazing poet and Gretel is Darkness is one of my favourite poems. The poem is written years after the events in Hansel and Gretel. It is beautiful, harrowing and dark. Gretel is still trying to come to terms with what she had to do to save her brother. I would definitely  recommend!

If this sounds like your type of thing, you can read it here:

Gretel in Darkness

#3 The Bloody Chamber by Angela Cater

Angela Cater is the master of gothic retellings of your favourite fairytales. This is a collection I’m still reading but I know will be one of the highlights of the reading year! So far my favourite is The Company of Wolves. If you haven’t checked this one out, I highly recommend reading this one!

#4 The Hours by Michael Cummingham

I picked this one up this year because I knew this story is told from three perspectives. The Hours intertwines three separate story lines all connected to the novel, Mrs Dalloway. This was a surprise for me as I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did. Cummingham manages to retell Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway beautifully and I loved how one of the characters was Virginia Woolf herself.

#5 Till We Have Faces by C.S Lewis 

This is one of my favourite reads of this year. Till We Have Faces is a retelling of the myth of Psyche and Eros (or Cupid as he’s known in Roman Mythology). However it’s told from the point of view of Psyche’s older sister. This is one of Lewis lesser known works and one Lewis, himself, classed as his best work. I would highly recommend that everybody reads this! I will say it is a dense read and touches on a lot of philosophical/theological ideas.

That’s all for this Top 5 Wednesday. Let me know your favourite retellings in the comments below, I’m always looking for more to read – especially mythology retellings.

Until next time, happy reading!

Dearna