Review: Sappho Sings, by Peggy Ullman Bell

Sappho Sings


Peggy Ullman Bell

Reviewed by Nan Hawthorne

The historical Sappho, about whom we sadly know so little, was known in her time as The Poetess, and fittingly Peggy Ullman Bell has made this fictional biography a work full of beauty and poetry. The novel is strewn with verse by Sappho herself and by her literary descendants, like Byron and Swinburne, each piece perfect for where it resides along the garden path of the story. This is a lovely, sensitive interpretation of the poet's life, and the included poetry makes it a veritable garden of delights.

Sappho, or Psappha as she would have called herself in her own tongue, is a young girl who has just lost her unfeeling mother who becomes caught up in political turmoil with her libertine betrothed, Alkaios, with whom she is exiled. They are separated by shipwreck, Psappha is rescued by a Sicilian merchant who later marries her. After his death she returns to Lesbos to create a school of arts for privileged maidens. Her obsession with one particular young maiden, Atthis, disrupts her life and relationships but contributes mightily to her stock of brilliant poems. Just as Psappha reunites with her dearest love, the African queen Gongyla, she receives an invitation to become part of an elite convocation of poets, the first woman ever to be so honored. It is on the voyage to accept the honor that Psappha confronts her apotheosis.

The character of Psappha herself can be hard to love. She is prone to extremes of actions and emotions. She can't hold her tongue when she ought to, she allows herself too much rope in how she deals with others, and she can be self-involved. Her defiance of the Tyrant of Lesbos gets her and Alkaios exiled. Her disapproval of the Sicilian merchant's "harem" isolates her from those with whom she could ally. Her reaction to her husband's death is "How could the gods do this to me?" rather than "to him?" When she wants something, whether Atthis the dancer or her sexy young fisherman, she disregards everyone else's feelings. But I liked this interpretation of Sappho. She was real, full of heart and color, and not an idealized Famous Lesbian.

Other characters were as complex and vivid. Gongyla is strong, exotic and steadfast, though she has her own submerged grief. Psappha's daughter Klies is the mirror image of herself but directed away from Psappha so she gets a taste of her own self-absorption. Atthis, the innocent young dancer, turns out to be pure poison. I was especially drawn to Lycos, the gay hairdresser/bookkeeper, who never let Psappha get away with any crap. His relationship with the lovable wastrel Alkaios is a painful one, but they ally to bring Psappha what she wants most in the world.

And this alliance is part of a central theme, Psappha's frustration with a growing limitation on women's freedom. Though ostensibly free on Lesbos, she nevertheless is chided for going out in public. She detests the new tradition of "harems", even though her husband only uses the one he inherited from his father to give women someplace safe and healthy to live. Psappha must contend with men to maintain her freedom, bitterly reflecting that no matter how esteemed she is as a poet and teacher in the world, she is still denied partnership with men as an equal.

Interestingly Peggy Ullman Bell portrays Psappha in sexual relationships with both women and men. This fits the history or at least the tradition. Psappha is simply sexual, taking what she wants and needs where it is best found, whether her sexually adept husband , her passionate Gongyla, her hot young fisherman, or her sweet gentle Alkaios. Whatever her sexuality, however, it is her love for the remarkable Gongyla that occupies her heart and her love of women that brings the poetry.

Peggy Ullman Bell brings us a realized interpretation of what the Tenth Muse, Sappho, may have been like and she does it with lyrical skill of her own, complemented with the bittersweet words of some romantic poets clearly that are the Poetess's heirs.

I bought this novel for my Kindle 3, and I thank the author for enabling text to speech so I could experience it in all its beauty.