“L’Esprit de L’Escalier” by Catherynne M. Valente

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Story can be read on-line: https://www.tor.com/2021/08/25/lesprit-de-lescalier-catherynne-m-valente/

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Best read after some passing knowledge of Greek mythology, this is a modern retelling of the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, with a twist. In this version, Orpheus does rescue Eurydice from Hades and now has to live with the consequences of his actions. For Eurydice is still, for all practical purposes, a dead person but now in the world of the living.

That causes ‘complications’, like the constant decay that occurs around her that can only be kept at bay by constant cleaning and disinfecting of her and the surroundings. It also doesn’t help that their modernized Greek mythological relatives, from Apollo onwards, visit, asking (or not) about her and when Orpheus is going to release more music that he is famous for writing. In the end, it may be all too much for them to take.

Story read from 2021/11/15 to 2022/11/16