A queen. A mother. A throne built on blood.
Princess Pasiphae is sent to Knossos to secure the throne, but she soon finds herself entangled in a world full of betrayal and sacrifice, between the ruthless ambition of King Minos and the ancient demands of a bloodthirsty cult.
Caught in a struggle for power, Pasiphae must decide how far she will go to protect her children: Asterion, her gentle son marked as a monster; and Ariadne, her brilliant daughter dreaming of a world beyond her mother’s control.
But when Theseus arrives and the walls of Knossos begin to fall, Pasiphae must fight to save the fragile legacy she has built, trapped inside the myth that will define her forever.
'A deeply human drama without polemics... The writing is superb' Historical Novel Society
Jane Dougherty, of Irish origin, grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in France. She began writing by coming up with short stories and a YA series for her teenage children. Her first novel was published by an American publisher Musa in 2014. Since then, her poetry and short stories have been published online, in anthologies and magazines. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and has published three poetry pamphlets. Her most recent novel, The Darkest Tide was published by Northodox Press in 2025.