Bethanne Patrick

Recommended Reading: "Gods Behaving Badly"
December 20, 2007

It's a Christmas miracle! Marie Phillips has written a light, frothy comedy that is not chick lit. Her debut novel, Gods Behaving Badly, has a wonderfully absurd premise: what might happen if the Greek gods wound up living together in a crumbling North London row house (they bought it for a song 350 years ago during the plague)? And why are their once-splendid powers so diminished? 

While Phillips whips all this into an airy meringue, she folds in bits and bobs of serious stuff, too, asking questions about the state of human belief in gods and in each other (Eros has become so disillusioned with his siblings and his role that he has converted to Christianity). 

The worst part of the gods' exile on High Street is that their weakened abilities leave them unable to wreak the mischief they were once famous for, and the resultant ennui leads Apollo to pester hapless cleaning lady Alice and her milquetoast manfriend Neil. (After meeting her on the set of his TV show, Apollo has hired Alice to bring some order to the Augean stables his family has made of their house). 

If I haven't convinced you by now that this novel is perfect for your holiday reading delectation, take a look at the cover:

                                                      

For more, take a look at this review in The Washington Post by Ron Charles, or this one by Janet Maslin in The New York Times (who says "'Gods Behaving Badly' is much more fun than it has any right to be." I'm not entirely sure what that means, since the fun is the point; perhaps Maslin is miffed that she actually enjoyed something light and fluffy).

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on December 20, 2007 | Comments (4)