(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
“Beautiful Aphrodite, she did what she pleased. Surely, she did not worry about pleasing her husband, or hate herself for her acts of infidelity. Those gods and goddesses, they have no shame.”
Our unnamed narrator and protagonist is a published poet who teaches at a boys’ academy in New York and is unsatisfied with her life. When her son goes off to college, her discontent peaks. As her son is no longer a buffer, she and her husband grow further apart. They never learned to be alone together.
Some of it may be her own doing though. She is a loner who lives inside of her head. Her mind is always drifting as she feels that she must separate from the rest of the world in order to create her poetry. She wants so much more from her work and life. Maybe this is why she is obsessed with a visiting poet at the academy.
On the bright side, her sonnet sequence, “The Rape of the Swan” is in the process of being published and set to be reviewed by the New York Times. Will she receive a fair review in the patriarchic world of literature?
Her method of escape from all of this is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she studies the sculptures of the ancient Greek gods. She finds this diversion calming and she tries to understand her husband, son, and life through Greek mythology. She seeks to discover the paradoxes of marriage and desire though the Greek and Roman societies and their gods and goddesses.
We learn about the myths that are directing our protagonist and the author includes photos of the sculptures, so we can visually understand what she is referring to. Additionally, the reader will get absorbed in the gorgeous and descriptive prose.
Though I was glued to every page, I didn’t see where this book was going until near the end. In fact, there were multiple surprises. The Deceptions is a story of unhappiness, betrayal and seduction. But also, one of empowerment.
This book shows how one must refuse to play the victim and actually take control over their life.
