From Oedipus being left for dead as a baby, to killing his father, marrying his mother and finding out about the self-fulfilling prophecy, Johnson really emulates the whole Sophoclean drama from start to finish. The book echoes the famous Theban tragedy by latching it onto the modern setting of the Oxford canals. You can absolutely learn about the myth of Oedipus from Daisy Johnson’s Everything Under. On her search for her dementia stricken mother, Gretel will have to face it head on. Being both all encompassing yet non-existent, the bonak is what Gretel spent her life running from. A thief that takes its victims in the night, swimming alongside the boats and beckoning innocent sailors into the water, the bonak was what Sarah and Gretel used to describe as their deepest, darkest fears. Fighting along side one another, the trio hunted down a terrifying creature lurking within the canal’s water: the bonak. Sarah and Gretel formed a familial bond with Marcus as they faced the harsh world as a team. To find her mother, she must delve deep into her memory to relive that strange period when an outcasted boy named Marcus came to stay with them on the boat.

As she begins to recall the language invented between her and her mother, Gretel is determined to make sense of what happened years before on the canal, right before she was deserted. One afternoon, a phone call from her mother starts Gretel on a new adventure to find the truth about her past. An ordinary job to some, but to Gretel a chance to grasp the reality of a world that had been hidden from her as a child. After her mother’s disappearance, Gretel devoted her time to understanding the language of the present day by updating dictionary entries. When Gretel was sixteen Sarah abandoned her, forcing Gretel to seek out new homes in the foster care system for the remainder of her teens.

Growing up, Gretel lived on a houseboat floating along the Oxford canals with her mother, Sarah - a woman who invented their own private language through which they communicated. Words were always important to Gretel, and now a lexicographer, she understands the impact they can make to one’s everyday life.

Everything under johnson