cover image Enchantment at Delphi

Enchantment at Delphi

Richard L. Purtill. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, $14.95 (149pp) ISBN 978-0-15-200447-7

In this first, unusual novel for young adults, Purtill constructs a vivid fantasy around his extensive knowledge of, and fascination with, the ancient Greeks. Alice Grant is an independent college freshman doing research at the ruins of Delphi. Drawn repeatedly into the past by the gods Dionysus, Apollo and Athena, she eagerly helps them fight the forces of the dark. Alice's freedom, her adventures in the country whose customs we come to know something about, and her romance with the young Greek Nikos give the story plenty of fascinating action. The gods, too, and the various scenes in which they appear with her are convincingly drawn. But the larger design is not quite clear enough to explain why the gods need Alice or to connect the episodes in a meaningful sequence. (12-up)