Medusa: A beautiful and profound retelling of Medusa’s story

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If you like Greek mythology and enjoy retellings that focus on sharing the side of the women characters labeled as monsters, I’d recommend picking up Medusa! Her second book, The Muse, set in a dual time-frame, during the Spanish Civil War and 30 years later in 1960s London, was published in 2016.

Medusa and Perseus meet without seeing, fall in love without touching all whilst trying to explain to the other their histories. A beautiful and compassionate retelling that gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity . I loved that here, in her own words, she gets to be more than just a cautionary tale or a monster to be slayed. It was published by Picador in the UK and Holland in July 2014, and the USA in August 2014, with other translations to follow. The book opens on a hot, stark island, where Medusa - now with writhing snakes for hair instead of her previous dark locks - lives here in exile with her two sisters.The Miniaturist was also a New York Times bestseller, selling a million copies in its first year, and was adapted for television for BBC One.

Her prose are a bit too flowery, a bit too meandering when all I wanted was for the story to get to the point. This was one of - if not the best - Medusa retelling I’d read in years and I highly recommend it to those wanting a fresh take on her myth.It seems to offer her seclusion from the confusion of daily life and the gaze and judgment of mortals and gods. Retellings of classical myths may be all the rage in publishing but, as Charlotte Higgins notes in the introduction to Greek Myths, her own erudite and exhilarating collection, it’s a trend as old as the stories themselves. Therefore, this might not read as comprehensive or complex as similar retellings featuring strong female protagonists from the Greek myths. It was such a pleasure to meet you both, and I really appreciated how smoothly and professionally you ran everything. Adapted from the hardback illustrated by Olivia Lomenech-Gill, this paperback edition is perfect for readers who loved Circe and Ariadne , as Medusa comes alive in a new version of the story that history set in stone long ago.