Wildalone

Ancient Greek mystery religions, culture clash, and college romance form a heady blend in Zourkova’s poetic, striking debut. In the fall of 2006, Thea Slavin applies to Princeton from her native Bulgaria, unaware that her older sister, Elza—about whom Thea’s family refuses to speak—disappeared from the university 15 years earlier. Once on campus, Thea finds the memory of her passionate, talented “earlier version” impossible to evade, as one of her professors is obsessed with Elza’s theories about Orpheus and Dionysus. Thea also has to contend with the attentions of beautiful, wealthy brothers Rhys and Jake Estlin, whose dizzying sexual allure almost disguises their secretive, erratic behavior. Bulgarian-born Zourkova draws perceptive and persuasive connections between Balkan folklore and Greek myth, especially when she identifies the Bulgarian samodivi—lethal, sensual female spirits of the forest, translated by Thea as “wildalones”—with the Greek maenads, but she fails to anchor her romantic triangle with the same meticulous conviction. The resulting novel is strongest when building its maddening mysteries, and it falters when its characters need to deal with the answering revelations. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Company. (Jan.)