Books of the Month

'Girl Meets Boy' by Ali Smith

Yes it's girl meets boy, one of the oldest stories around. But because this is part of Canongate's Myths series, and because this is Ali Smith, it's something altogether new too.

Smith's starting point is Ovid's tale of Iphis ('one of the cheeeriest metamorphoses'), born a girl but raised as a boy to avoid being an early death. Iphis falls in love with childhood friend Ianthe, and on the day of their wedding - i.e. just in time - is duly transformed into a man. Girl Meets Boy is the story of Anthea, who falls in love with a the beautifully boyish Robin, but needs no such heaven-sent transformation to make the union complete or happy. Anthea's sister Imogen is a 'Creative' for a corporate monster with its aims set firmly on world domination, and the company's brief to market a new kind of bottled water becomes a symbol of the commodification of something already freely available - at least to the privileged. While Robin and Anthea begin a campaign to draw attention to global injustices perpetrated against women, Imogen struggles to work out how she fits in, and battles with her own more personal problems.

This is a skilful blend of ancient and modern myth, complete with love, politics, and plenty of humour. It's a highly imaginative, narratively bold and thoroughly enjoyable read.

Susan Tranter 

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