We chat with debut author Luna McNamara about Psyche and Eros, which is an epic adventure and love story for the ages, sure to satisfy fans of Madeline Miller and V.E. Schwab.
Hi, Luna! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a social worker by day, and by night I write about historical women and forgotten gods.
I live in Boston with my lop rabbit Leo. My background is in academia – I earned a masters’ degree in the study of women and gender in world religions from Harvard University, but I eventually realized that I didn’t want to hyperspecialize in the way that academia demands. Instead, I want to learn a lot all I could about a certain area and then jump to something completely different. This is terrible for an academic, but wonderful for a novel writer.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Before I was even old enough to talk, I was acting out elaborate dramas with grapes at snack time. I’ve always had a love of stories, and I found my medium when I learned how to write and read.
From my teens to my twenties, I wrote a lot of fanfiction, with a few breaks in between for school and life. This experience taught me how to structure a story and see it through, write dialogue, effectively deploy tropes, and think about how my work fit into the overall picture of what was already out there. It also gave me a number of friends who support my writing even now.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey was the first book I remember reading. It’s a classic tale of ducks in Boston and a charming picture book.
As for the book that made me want to become a writer, that’s harder. I think I’d have to say The Call of the Wild by Jack London. I was intrigued at how London’s rich and varied life shone through in his work, and how he wrote from perspectives very different from the one he inhabited.
One book I can’t stop thinking about is Roshani Chokshi’s The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, a dark and lush love story that weaves in a variety of myths and folktales. Psyche and Eros are even mentioned in the first few chapters!
Your debut novel, Psyche and Eros, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Romantic, feminist, playful, heartbreaking, triumphant.
What can readers expect?
A riff on the story you think you know, set in a Greek myth-inspired world. It features a bit of humor, a lot of romance, and the ultimate victory of the soul. It brings the title characters into conversation with other myths, legends, and events, so expect to see some familiar faces. I won’t say more, but even if you’re familiar with the original story, you will be surprised.
What inspired you to write about Psyche and Eros?
I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I loved the myth when I first heard it as a child, but when I read the source text many years later, what I saw there was very different from what I had been told. There are parts of the myth that are confusing or not precisely explained (such as the exact nature of the curse), and there are other parts that just don’t land well with modern audiences, such as a phrase about “tending the bloodied corpse of the new bride’s virginity” after Psyche’s wedding night. Yikes.
I wanted to interpret this myth as a love story the way I’d like to see it, between two individuals who change because of the love they have for each other, but not necessarily for each other. I also wanted to take a romp through the ages of Greek mythology, and see what these varied myths had to say to each other.
Can you tell us a bit about your research process?
I began with a thorough read of the source text for the Eros and Psyche myth, The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius. Then I moved on to other interpretations of the myth, such as CS Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. I was curious to see how others had interpreted the myth, which in its original form feels ambiguous and allegorical – you get the sense that both Psyche and Eros are not just gods or characters, but stand-ins for some kind of universal forces or impulses. I read a lot of Anne Carson, who has done some excellent scholarship on Eros, and also had the privilege of reading early work by Dr. Regine May, who specializes in Apuleius. Additionally, I read more primary sources from Greek and Roman literature than I can easily name.
I also took a dive into art history. Only a small fraction of the texts from antiquity have survived into the modern day, and we should also keep in mind that most people from the ancient world could not read these texts. Rather than focusing exclusively on texts that were likely the provenance of elite men, I also took a look at art from the Greek and Roman worlds that depicts Eros and Psyche, both apart and together. This was the genesis of the butterfly motif in my novel – in Roman art, Psyche is often depicted with butterfly wings.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I absolutely loved writing the character of Atalanta, who serves as Psyche’s mentor. Atalanta doesn’t appear in the original myth, but I had such a strong vision of her riding through the gates to Tiryns that I simply had to include her. As I was struggling to write the early drafts of the story, it was the image of Atalanta that helped me tie it all together.
The first encounter between Psyche and Eros in the darkened room was also a pleasure to write. She had been spirited away to his home, he creeps up on her in the dark, and she reacts…predictably. I won’t spoil the moment for you, but she doesn’t take this intrusion lightly.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey of getting Psyche and Eros published?
It was certainly a wild ride. I wrote the first draft when I was trapped in my one-bedroom apartment during the pandemic. I was going through a number of difficulties at the time, and working on the novel was a wonderful escape.
I showed this first draft to a few friends who were supportive and offered critical insights, and after some editing, I started sending it out to agents. I received a full request (so exciting!) but that agent ultimately gave me a revise and resubmit. So I rewrote the POV, and ended up getting signed by another agent, who is absolutely wonderful. All told it took about a full year to find an agent, and I racked up a LOT of rejections.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on a retelling of the Argonautica centered around three unlikely heroes: Medea, the witch-princess of Colchis; Jason, whom even the source texts treat as a bit of an underdog; and Atalanta, the great female hero, boar hunter, and racer, who was such a joy to write in Psyche & Eros.
In the midst of a harrowing theft and grueling voyage, Medea finds herself in a love triangle, torn between her affections for Jason and for Atalanta. Eventually Medea must choose between the love thrust upon her and the love she chose, between being a victim and becoming a murderer.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
- Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
- Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
- The Wolf Den + The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper
