The New Moon with the Old Moon in Her Arms.(Brief Article)

Ursule Molinaro. McPherson, $10 ISBN 0-929701-29-1

Molinaro's (Positions with White Roses) clever feminist novella is actually more like an extended (perhaps even a little attenuated) anecdote, set in ancient Athens. The female narrator is a nameless 30-year-old poet who has volunteered to be sacrificed by stoning on the feast day of Thargelia in order to expiate the sins and cure the illnesses of the city's inhabitants. Since the sacrificial "bride" is highly visible for a year before her death, our heroine sees the self-sacrifice as striking a blow for women's rights in an increasingly patriarchal Athens. However, her plans for death …