Lilith: A Novel

by Nikki Marmery

Overview

A triumphantly feminist retelling of ancient creation myths in the tradition of Madeline Miller and Claire North.

Lyrically rendered, this epic U.S. debut tells the story of the woman known as Adam's first wife and her fall from Paradise and quest for revenge.

Before Eve, there was Lilith.

Lilith and Adam are equal and happy in the Garden of Eden. Until Adam decides Lilith should submit to his will and lie beneath him. She refuses—and is banished forever from Paradise.

Demonized and sidelined, Lilith watches in fury as God creates Eve, the woman who accepts her submission. But Lilith has a secret: she has already tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Endowed with Wisdom, she knows why Asherah—God’s wife and equal, the Queen of Heaven—is missing. Lilith has a plan: she will rescue Eve, find Asherah, restore balance to the world, and regain her rightful place in Paradise. 

Lilith’s quest for justice drives her throughout history, from the ziggurats of Ancient Sumer, to the court of Israel’s Queen Jezebel, and to the side of a radical preacher in Roman Judea. Noah’s wife, Norea, Jezebel and Mary Magdalene all play their part in Lilith’s enlightenment. In the modern age, as she observes the catastrophic consequences of a world built on inequality, Lilith finally understands what must be done to correct the wrong done to women—and all humankind—at the beginning of time.

Inspired by ancient myths and suppressed scriptures, Lilith is a thought-provoking and ambitious novel with an evocative literary voice and a triumphantly engaging heroine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639105724
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	48,323
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

For many years, Nikki Marmery worked as a journalist, editing magazines about foreign exchange and credit trading. She now writes historical fiction from a small village in the Chilterns.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/07/2023

Marmery’s stellar sophomore novel (after On Wilder Seas) centers on Lilith, Adam’s first wife in the Garden of Eden. The story begins with Adam and Lilith living fruitfully in Eden under the watchful eyes of their gods: Yahweh, The Almighty, and Asherah, Giver of Life and Queen of Heaven. When Adam rapes Lilith, she runs from Eden to seek help from Asherah, in the process gaining her own wings and immortality but angering Yahweh. As Lilith soars over Earth, she uncovers Yahweh’s secrets: Eden is not the paradise she thought it was, and Lilith and Adam are not the only humans in existence. As Lilith’s eyes are gradually opened, she falls in love with Samael, the Angel of Death, and tries in vain to save Asherah from her violent fate in the Underworld. Marmery brilliantly recasts classic Bible stories, giving Lilith the goal of restoring women to a place of power and including her in such well-known events as Noah’s Ark and Queen Jezebel’s marriage to King Ahab. This feminist reimagining of the Bible will grip readers. Agent: Ella Kahn, DKW Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Lilith:
“Stellar . . . This feminist reimagining of the Bible will grip readers.” 
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A sweeping fairy tale . . . Quick and imaginative . . . An engaging feminist revision of the ancient world’s Abrahamic religions.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A ferocious, heterodox mythic novel that upends notions of divinity, femininity versus masculinity, and human beings’ responsibility toward one another and the earth.”
—Foreword Reviews, starred review

“Imaginative, provocative, and timely.”
—Historical Novels Review

“Illuminating, fascinating and important—a fierce and valuable addition to feminist myth-retellings.”
—Jennifer Saint, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ariadne

“Exquisite prose brings this compelling, highly relevant tale of Adam's first wife to life.”
—Laura Shepperson, Sunday Times bestselling author of Phaedra

“Electric and empowering.”
—Niamh Boyce, No. 1 bestselling author of Her Kind

“[A] joyous rampage through Biblical history.”
—Alice Albinia, author of Guardian Book of the Year Cwen

“A fun and thought-provoking journey . . . Daring, fresh and playful.”
—Ann Morgan, internationally bestselling author of Crossing Over

“A poetic voice, at once ancient and modern.”
—Kathleen B. Jones, author of Cities of Women

“A wonderfully subversive novel.”
—Joanne Burn, author of The Hemlock Cure

 “Fans of Madeline Miller and Jenny Saint will love this evocative feminist retelling.”
—Rosie Andrews, author of The Leviathan

“A primal cry echoing through the centuries.”
—Luna McNamara, author of Psyche and Eros

“Exquisitely written and full of wit and female rage.”
—Rani Selvarajah, author of Savage Beasts

“The most powerful, audacious, hopeful novel I've ever read.”
—Louise Morrish, author of Operation Moonlight

“One of the most gloriously feminist myth-meets-historical-fiction novels.”
—Susan C. Wilson, author of Clytemnestra’s Bind

“A sumptuous feast and furious tornado of a novel.”
—Maggie Brookes, author of Acts Of Love And War

“A rich, vividly written story of passion, betrayal and female rage.”
—Sophie Keetch, author of Morgan Is My Name

“Ambitious and intriguing, Lilith tackles patriarchy while imagining a better world for all.”
—Elyse John, author of Orphia and Eurydicius

“An utterly illuminating novel—original, bold, compelling.”
—Susan Stokes Chapman, author of Pandora

“Beautifully written, thought-provoking, and always true to its heroine.”
—Costanza Casati, author of Clytemnestra

From the Publisher

2023-09-09
In the tradition of Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent (1997), this is a feminist take on biblical and ancient history through the eyes of Lilith, Adam’s first wife, who, according to some accounts, preceded Eve.

As the book opens, Lilith adores Adam, but before long she has many complaints about him, including bossiness and lack of imagination. A disgruntled immortal, she’s soon on a quest to find her goddess mother, Asherah. In the lush language that characterizes the novel, she describes her airborne view as she escapes the Garden of Eden: “Prairies of swaying grass as far the eye can see. Frozen northlands, the very sea turned to tumbling ice….To the south: dense, boiling jungles that steamed when it rained.” She traverses continents across thousands of years. She spends time with Noah and his offspring, detailing the man’s unpleasantness and her conflicts with his wife, as well as with less familiar biblical and mythological ancestors. Lilith has mortal qualities—she gives birth and loses a son to death—and grieves like a human. But like an immortal, she trucks with gods and goddesses, couples with the angel of death, visits the underworld, and travels through ancient cultures, immersing herself in their mythology, with her anger always close at hand. Although her female-centric vision makes a compelling throughline, there isn’t much philosophizing; this book is all action. It poses the question of why God is male in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As demonstrated by historical notes at the end of the book, Marmery has researched religious traditions and ancient cultures to create a sweeping fairy tale, synthesizing all this material so Lilith’s multimillennia romp holds together as one story.

Quick and imaginative, this is an engaging feminist revision of the ancient world’s Abrahamic religions.

Kirkus Reviews