3.0
Where Three Roads Meet
ByPublisher Description
The author of The Cleaner of Chartres “brings Sigmund Freud together with a vivid, loquacious Tiresias for an intriguing retelling of the Oedipus myth” (Publishers Weekly).
In the latest retelling of the world’s greatest stories in the Myth series from Canongate, the highly regarded novelist Salley Vickers brings to life the Western world’s most widely known myth, Oedipus, through a shrewdly told exploration of the seminal story in conversation between Freud and Tiresias.
It is 1938 and Sigmund Freud, suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer, has been permitted by the Nazis to leave Vienna. He seeks refuge in England, taking up residence in the house in Hampstead in which he will die fifteen months later. But his last months are made vivid by the arrival of a stranger who comes and goes according to Freud’s state of health. Who is the mysterious visitor and why has he come to tell the famed proponent of the Oedipus complex his strangely familiar story?
Set partly in prewar London and partly in ancient Greece, Where Three Roads Meet is as brilliantly compelling as it is thoughtful. Former psychoanalyst and acclaimed novelist Salley Vickers “draws suspense and even new meaning from a foundational Western myth” (Publishers Weekly) and revisits a crime committed long ago that still has disturbing reverberations for us all today.
“Full of insight and humor, offering a glimpse into the workings of a great mind faced with the conundrum of human suffering.”—The Times
“A novelist in the great English tradition of moral seriousness.”—The Washington Post
In the latest retelling of the world’s greatest stories in the Myth series from Canongate, the highly regarded novelist Salley Vickers brings to life the Western world’s most widely known myth, Oedipus, through a shrewdly told exploration of the seminal story in conversation between Freud and Tiresias.
It is 1938 and Sigmund Freud, suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer, has been permitted by the Nazis to leave Vienna. He seeks refuge in England, taking up residence in the house in Hampstead in which he will die fifteen months later. But his last months are made vivid by the arrival of a stranger who comes and goes according to Freud’s state of health. Who is the mysterious visitor and why has he come to tell the famed proponent of the Oedipus complex his strangely familiar story?
Set partly in prewar London and partly in ancient Greece, Where Three Roads Meet is as brilliantly compelling as it is thoughtful. Former psychoanalyst and acclaimed novelist Salley Vickers “draws suspense and even new meaning from a foundational Western myth” (Publishers Weekly) and revisits a crime committed long ago that still has disturbing reverberations for us all today.
“Full of insight and humor, offering a glimpse into the workings of a great mind faced with the conundrum of human suffering.”—The Times
“A novelist in the great English tradition of moral seriousness.”—The Washington Post
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesWhere Three Roads Meet Reviews
3.0
“Canongate myths #10: This one is difficult to rate. It has an interesting premise, Tiresias telling the story of Oedipus to Freud, theorizer of the Oedipus complex. It's a intellectual premise that can veer into pretentiousness. Also, in order to tell the story the author has to dump a lot of information about Freud on us right at the beginning. Strangely, though, the information was fascinating and mostly about his struggles with mouth cancer, which I hadn't know anything about.
It tells an in-depth story of Oedipus and draws different conclusions than Freud, but sometimes the back and forth between the two can be a bit much, and the dialogue is not traditionally formatted (which is an annoyance of mine). Yet I still enjoyed reading it for the most part. An interesting and complex look at a classic myth.”
“Canongate myths #10: This one is difficult to rate. It has an interesting premise, Tiresias telling the story of Oedipus to Freud, theorizer of the Oedipus complex. It's a intellectual premise that can veer into pretentiousness. Also, in order to tell the story the author has to dump a lot of information about Freud on us right at the beginning. Strangely, though, the information was fascinating and mostly about his struggles with mouth cancer, which I hadn't know anything about.
It tells an in-depth story of Oedipus and draws different conclusions than Freud, but sometimes the back and forth between the two can be a bit much, and the dialogue is not traditionally formatted (which is an annoyance of mine). Yet I still enjoyed reading it for the most part. An interesting and complex look at a classic myth.”
About Salley Vickers
Salley Vickers has worked as a teacher of literature and a psychoanalyst. She is the author of the bestselling Miss Garnet's Angel, Mr Golightly's Holiday, Instances of the Number 3 and The Other Side of You. She now writes full time. Check out the website www.themyths.co.uk.
Other books by Salley Vickers
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
