Review: Powerful and evocative storytelling
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2011
I was looking for something light when I stumbled across Rachel Swirsky's A Memory of Wind. By the time I finished the story for the second time I realized that this was anything but "light" reading. Here was a writer who was able to pluck a minor character from the legends and myths of the Trojan war and flesh her out fully.At its most basic level A Memory of Wind tells the story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon. A niece to the legendary beauty Helen, Iphigenia must be sacrificed to appease the gods and create a wind to push the fleet to Troy. Rather than tell her the truth, Agamemnon tells Iphigenia that she is to be married to Achilles. Only too late do Iphigenia and her mother learn the truth.Iphigenia feels her memories slipping away from the moment her father agrees to scrifice her. The entire story is a lyrical evocation of loss and grief. Swirsky allows us inside that intimate sense of loss that clings to Iphigenia as memories drift away like the wind that Iphigenia is becoming. This is truly one of the most affecting stories in any genre that I've read in a long time!