Q&A With Crystal King 

Crystal King is one of the many new friends I made on BlueSky. What’s even more amazing is she’s the author of 3 novels which are Feast Of Sorrow A Novel Of Ancient Rome, The Chef’s Secret & her recent release In The Garden Of Monsters. 

Q: Crystal, would you please give a brief description of each of your novels starting with In The Garden Of Monsters? 

A: In The Garden of Monsters is a Gothic reimagining of the Hades and Persephone myth, set in 1948 Bomarzo, Italy. Julia Lombardi, a model with no memory of her past, is invited by Salvador Dalí to the eerie Sacro Bosco to pose as Persephone. There, she encounters the mysterious Ignazio, who seems to know her. The novel blurs the line between reality and myth as Julia unravels her identity, steeped in sinister romance and atmospheric intrigue.

The Chef’s Secret, my second novel, is set in Renaissance Italy, following Bartolomeo Scappi, a renowned chef to the popes. When Scappi dies, his apprentice and nephew, Giovanni, discovers a mysterious journal revealing Scappi’s hidden past, family secrets, and a forbidden love affair. Giovanni sets out to find the noblewoman that Scappi loved, and in doing so, turns his own life inside out.

Feast of Sorrow, my debut book, is a sumptuous tale set in ancient Rome, exploring the life of the infamous gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius, whose name is on the oldest known cookbook. Told through the eyes of his slave Thrasius, the novel delves into power, ambition, and the dark underbelly of the Roman Empire, all framed by the culinary extravagance that defined Apicius’s legacy.

Q: In The Garden Of Monsters is a retelling of Hades & Persephone inspired by artist Salvador Dali’s 1948 visit to the Sacro Bosco Mannerist Statue Garden. I noticed lately so many authors are doing their own retellings of classic myths. What drew you into doing a retelling of Hades & Persephone?

A: I wasn’t intending to write a retelling, but during the pandemic I was struggling to sell another book set in Renaissance Italy. I was talking to a friend of mine, author Kris Waldherr, who wrote Unnatural Creatures and The Lost History of Dreams. I was musing about what I could write that an editor would want and she said, “Well, gothics are hot.” And I thought to myself, what would I write if I wrote a gothic? And I immediately thought of this wild garden I had visited a few years before—the Sacro Bosco Park of Monsters in Bomarzo, Italy, an hour north of Rome. It has statues of monsters and ancient gods and when I realized there is a mouth of Hell, a statue of Demeter and of Persephone, it all fell into place. Then when I discovered that Salvador Dalí had been there in 1948, I had to include him. And once I had all those pieces in place, the story tumbled out of me. 

Q: Is your upcoming novel a historical fiction novel or will it be another retelling of a Greek or Roman myth? 

A: I have a novel (title still TBD) coming out in late 2025 and it’s a bit of a swerve for me. It’s not historical fiction, but it has a lot of history in the pages. There isn’t any food, unlike my previous novels. And while it’s not a retelling, there are ancient Greek gods, some of the more obscure ones. It’s a fantastical contemporary tale of gods stealing happiness from the world. A reverse Pandora’s box, if you will. It is, however, set in Italy, where my heart always resides.

Q: Speaking of myths, have you read Abigail Owen’s The Games Gods Play? Its basically Greek Mythology meets the Hunger Games. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend it. 

A: Ooo! I will add this one to my (admittedly long) list. 

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your work? Whether they do or not, who would be your dream cast to play your characters? 

A:  I’ve had rights inquiries for In The Garden of Monsters. And everyone who reads Feast of Sorrow tells me it should be a movie (and Ancient Rome IS a hot topic, right?). Keep your fingers crossed for me.
For In The Garden of Monsters, I think Elle Fanning would be a perfect Julia. My husband thinks that Jake Gyllenhaal would make a good Dalí (if he could nail the accent), and I could kind of see it, although I would warm to Pedro Pascal as well. Henry Cavill would make an excellent Ignazio. Gala is a bit harder for me to figure out…she is such a complex character, and she wasn’t a classic beauty like so many actresses today are. Dacre Montgomery could fit Jack. Maude Apatow for Lillian. Timothée Chalamet might be a good Paolo.

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn and feel after reading your novels?

A:  I hope that they are curious to learn more about the history behind my books. I am endlessly fascinated by the things I discover in the past and I love sharing those things with my readers. But mostly I just hope they have a great time!

Crystal King is the author of In The Garden of Monsters, The Chef’s Secret, and Feast of Sorrow, which was long-listed at the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and designated as a MassBook Awards Must Read. A social media and AI professor by trade, her writing is fueled by a love of history and a passion for the food, language, and culture of Italy. Crystal has taught writing, creativity, and social media at Harvard Extension School, Boston University, and UMass Boston. A Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and former co-editor of Plum Ruby Review, she holds an MA in critical and creative thinking from UMass Boston. You can find her at crystalking.com.