Laura Shepperson
Laura Shepperson was born in the UK and has always been fascinated by myths and myth retellings, studying Classical Studies at the University of Auckland. Her first novel, The Heroines, was a Sunday Times bestseller. In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Prize for Fiction. Laura holds a Master of Studies in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. Laura lives outside London with her husband and two children. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram @LauraShepperson.
Phaedra
Laura Shepperson
Debut novelist Laura Shepperson offers a powerful feminist retelling of Phaedra and her unyielding quest for justice, perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes.
Phaedra has been cast to the side all her life: daughter of an adulteress, sister of a monster, and now unwilling bride to the much-older, power-hungry Theseus. Young, naïve, and idealistic, she has accepted her lot in life, resigned to existing under the sinister weight of Theseus’s control and the constant watchful eye of her handsome stepson Hippolytus.
When supposedly pious Hippolytus assaults her, Phaedra’s world is darkened in the face of untouchable, prideful power. In the face of injustice, Phaedra refuses to remain quiet any longer: such an awful truth demands to be brought to light. When Phaedra publicly accuses Hippolytus of rape, she sparks an overdue reckoning.
The men of Athens gather to determine the truth. Meanwhile, the women of the city, who have no vote, are gathering in the shadows. The women know truth is a slippery thing in the hands of men. There are two sides to every story, and theirs has gone unheard. Until now.
Timely, unflinching, and transportive, Laura Shepperson’s Phaedra carves open long-accepted wounds to give voice to one of the most maligned figures of mythology and offers a stunning story of how truth bends under the weight of patriarchy but can be broken open by the force of one woman’s bravery.
The Heir of Venus
Laura Shepperson
To the world he's a legend.
To her he's a liar .
Lavinia never asked to be fought over. But now Turnus, her childhood sweetheart, has waged a war that threatens to destroy all she holds dear, because Lavinia's father has promised her to somebody else.
Aeneas, rumoured to be the son of Venus, is famed for his bravery, cunning and his vision for a new great Empire. He is also secretive, slippery, and Lavinia wonders why he will never discuss the past he left behind.
So when a stranger arrives in the camp with stories about Aeneas that suggest he is not what she seems, Lavinia realises she has to take her future, and that of her people, into her own hands.
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