"The only intention that matters to me is that of the model, not the creator. I want the model to surpass the creator, to breathe and think; contrary to what Ovid wrote, the model shouldn't succumb to the creator, Pygmalion, she should tell him to go to hell instead, deconstruct him, leave, and reclaim her freedom".
Set in an unspecified town in France in the aftermath of the 2015 Greek referendum, the novel follows the personal and academic struggles of Galatea, a Greek graduate student, including her strained relationship with her twin sister, Thalassine, a Physics student who lives in Thessaloniki and challenges the physical and political boundaries of the world around her. After posing for a painter, Galatea begins to question the limitations enforced on her, and decides to stop being a muse and to become a creator herself.
Inspired by the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, the novel blends elements of the Bildungsroman and the campus novel genres while exploring themes of political engagement, gender roles, authorship in art, feminist writing, and trauma.Find Galatea on Goodreads.
