Adventure, comedy, tragedy, horror . . . whatever the genre, these reboots of some of the oldest tales around make fresh and compelling reading.
The Penelopiad / Margaret Atwood
Atwood reimagines The Odyssey from the perspectives of Penelope and the twelve maids hanged for disloyalty. Drawing on variations of the myth, she explores Penelope’s life, her marriage, and the scandal surrounding her, while questioning the motives behind the maids’ execution and Penelope’s true actions. The maids form a chorus, reflecting on the inconsistencies in the original Odyssey and giving voice to those often overlooked in Homer’s narrative. Atwood’s retelling sheds light on the haunting questions of loyalty, power, and justice.
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James / Percival Everett
Jim, an enslaved man, learns he will be sold and separated from his family, prompting him to flee to Jackson Island. Meanwhile, Huck Finn escapes his abusive father by faking his own death and retreating to the same island. The two form an unlikely partnership, embarking on a perilous and transformative journey down the Mississippi River, seeking freedom in the northern states. Their adventure becomes a quest for liberation, filled with danger, self-discovery, and the complexity of social and moral issues in pre-Civil War America.
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies / Seth Grahame-Smith
As a mysterious plague falls upon the village of Meryton and zombies start rising from the dead, Elizabeth Bennett is determined to destroy the evil menace but becomes distracted by the arrival of the dashing and arrogant Mr. Darcy.
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Stone Blind / Natalie Haynes
The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know. When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene’s temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge—on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon’s actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude. Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon.
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Shylock Is My Name / Howard Jacobson
In a magnificent modern re-imagining of one of Shakespeare’s most provocative characters—Shylock—Simon Strulovitch, riddled with grief after the death of his wife, struggles with his daughter Beatrice’s betrayal of family and his daughter Jessica’s rejection of her Jewish roots.
What Moves the Dead / T. Kingfisher
Retired soldier Alex Easton travels to a remote estate to help their dying friend Madeline Usher. There, they find a decaying mansion surrounded by eerie fungi, strange animals, and a dark, unnatural lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in other voices, while her brother Roderick suffers from a mysterious illness. With help from a sharp British mycologist and a puzzled American doctor, Alex must uncover the terrifying secret behind the House of Usher before it destroys them all. A haunting, fungal-infused reimagining of Poe’s classic tale.
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Demon Copperhead / Barbara Kingsolver
This is a powerful coming-of-age story set in southern Appalachia. Told in the raw, witty voice of a boy born to a struggling teen mother, it follows his journey through foster care, poverty, addiction, love, and loss. With resilience and sharp insight, Demon confronts a world that often overlooks kids like him. Inspired by Dickens’ David Copperfield, the novel explores the enduring impact of institutional poverty in modern America, capturing one boy’s fight to be seen and to survive.
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Lilith / Nikki Marmery
Before Eve, there was Lilith, Adam’s equal in the Garden of Eden until she refused to submit to him and was banished. Demonized, she watches as God creates Eve, who accepts subjugation. Lilith, endowed with knowledge from the Tree of Knowledge, embarks on a quest to restore balance, seeking to rescue Eve, find Asherah (God’s wife), and reclaim her place in Paradise. Throughout history, from ancient Sumer to Roman Judea, Lilith’s journey intertwines with key women, leading her to understand how to correct the injustices against women and humanity that began with her banishment.
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Emma: A Modern Retelling / Alexander McCall Smith
The summer after university, Emma Woodhouse returns to Highbury, where she lives with her health-conscious father while preparing to start her interior design business. In the meantime, she enjoys offering advice to those around her, often with mixed results. New faces, including Harriet Smith, Frank Churchill, and Jane Fairfax, enter her life, and Emma attempts to guide their romantic and social endeavors. This modern, witty retelling of Emma by McCall Smith offers a charming, fresh take on Jane Austen’s beloved heroine, appealing to both longtime Austen fans and newcomers.
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Circe / Madeline Miller
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child, not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology.
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Boy, Snow, Bird / Helen Oyeyemi
Boy Novak escapes her abusive father in Manhattan for a new life in New England, where she marries widower Arturo Whitman and becomes stepmother to his daughter, Snow. But when Boy gives birth to Bird, whose appearance reveals the Whitman family’s hidden Black heritage, buried truths and racial tensions surface. Struggling with identity, beauty, and belonging, Boy begins to mirror the “wicked stepmother” she feared becoming. A haunting retelling of Snow White, the novel explores race, perception, and the power of reflection in shaping American identity.
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Medea / Eilish Quin
In this evocative debut, the story of Medea, one of Greek mythology’s most vilified figures, is reimagined. Daughter of a sea nymph and granddaughter of a Titan, Medea is a powerful witch torn between divine heritage and societal limitations as a woman. Known for killing her children in revenge against her husband, Jason, Medea’s story is far more complex. As she grows into her power, she faces prophecy, battles, and the arrival of Jason—her destined husband—who leads her on a journey that could either save or destroy her. This retelling sheds new light on the tragic sorceress.
Dunbar / Edward St. Aubyn
Henry Dunbar, once a powerful media mogul, now faces the consequences of his past decisions. After handing control of his empire to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, he regrets his choices as tensions rise. Imprisoned in a posh sanatorium in rural England, Dunbar begins plotting his escape, pursued by Abby and Megan and his beloved youngest daughter, Florence. St. Aubyn’s modern reimagining of King Lear explores themes of family, power, and betrayal with sharp, brutal precision, offering a devastating look at the complexities of inheritance, forgiveness, and the ravages of greed.
The Chosen and the Beautiful / Nghi Vo
This is a magical reimagining of The Great Gatsby told through the eyes of Jordan Baker, a wealthy, queer Vietnamese adoptee navigating 1920s high society. Though surrounded by glamour, Jordan remains an outsider, exoticized and excluded. Amid the jazz and opulence, she discovers a world of magic, infernal deals, and supernatural power. As she learns to wield her own dark gifts, Jordan must confront what it means to belong—and what she’s willing to burn to claim her place.
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Psyche and Eros / Luna Mcnamara
Enlisted by Aphrodite to deliver a cruel curse to Psyche, princess of Mycenae, Eros, god of desire, accidentally pricks himself with the arrow intended for Psyche and is doomed to yearn for a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet.
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A Blade So Black / L.L. McKinney
This is a thrilling urban fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland, set in Atlanta. Alice battles Nightmares—monsters from a dark dream realm—while juggling high school, friends, and a strict mom. Trained in combat and magic, she fights to protect both worlds. When her mentor is poisoned, Alice must journey deeper into Wonderland than ever before to save him, using all her skills to survive.
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