The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, #1)

by Theodora Goss

She held him as tenderly as though he were a young bird in a nest. It is the way she holds everything—when you are as strong as Justine, the world is terribly fragile.

Beatrice closed her eyes and dreamed whatever flowers dream. BEATRICE: That’s very poetic, but they don’t dream anything. Flowers have no cerebral cortex.

That was the first meeting of the Athena Club. Oh, we didn’t call it that, not then. Not until several months later, when Justine suggested the name. Readers who remember their classical mythology will immediately realize its significance: Athena, born from the head of her father, Zeus. We do not claim the wisdom of Athena, but we identify with her dubious parentage.