Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith

This is part of the Canongate Myths Series and is supposed to be the Iphis myth retold. Iphis is one of the sunnier parts of Ovid's Metamorphosis. It tells the story of a child who is born to a family who cannot afford to raise a girl and will have to kill the child by exposure if things turn out that way. (happy, right?) So the very pregnant mother goes to the temple to pray and the goddess Isis tells her that all will be well as long as she raises the child. The child is a girl and her mother calls her Iphis (gender neutral name apparently) and tells everyone that the child is a boy and raises her that way. Iphis grows up as a boy, falls in love with a girl, and, as is the normal progression, plans to marry her. Iphis, however knows that he's really a girl, and that this is a problem and "despairs." So Iphis's mom goes back to the temple and prays for a solution and the gods turn Iphis into a man. Everyone, apparently, lives happily ever after. (See, positively chipper for Ovid.)

I spent most of my time reading Girl Meets Boy frustrated and irritated. Most of the book is basically a love story between two women. It's a nice story, kind of sweet, really fast paced. We also hear from the sister of one the lovers who is having difficulty adjusting to her sister suddenly having a girlfriend. It's drearily devoid of the myth. In fact, the subtle little nods and Iphis seeme a little contrived.  The exceptions to this are the first and last chapter and they lay on the myth super thick. It felt, in fact, like two mostly unrelated novellas squished together and haphazardly linked. So, I spend most of the novel wishing I had more of the direct retelling (that is after all why I picked up the book) instead of enjoying the sweet little love story. Expectation is a powerful thing.

Smith's use of language is beautiful and lyrical. Parts of the book are almost prose poem. It's a good book, even if it isn't quite what I wanted/expected.