November’s read for our book club was Stacy Swann’s debut novel, Olympus, Texas. It takes place in a mythical town in Texas (although I’ve heard it’s clear what town it may actually be based on) following the life of the Briscoe family over a period of about a week. Most, if not all characters have direct parallels with something or someone in greek mythology (as you may guess from names like Hap, Thea, and Marsh…Hephaestus, Athena, Ares). As fun as it is to notice some of these greek easter eggs, the reader does not need to know anything about Greek mythology to be able to enjoy the novel.
At its core, the novel is a very human experience about the lives of various family members in a very dysfunctional family. Although there is the Shakespearean misplacement, it’s clear that the subject of the novel is the every day person; even for gods, there are issues that are universally difficult to solve or come to terms with.
The most impressive part for me in the novel was how well Swann places herself in the shoes of all the characters and really connect it with what someone, a real person outside the novel, might actually do. It is always easy to look within as an outside, as we readers are doing with the book, but when you’re in the weeds, the possible solutions might not be as obvious.
A fun read for sure, especially for those that enjoy that enjoy a reimagining of greek mythology.