You’ve probably heard of her – the hideous Gorgon with snakes for hair who turns all that look at her to stone. But this brilliant new Young Adult novel from Jessie Burton (author of The Miniaturist) compels us to look again. 

‘You should be careful who tells your story’, Medusa warns us. In this breath-taking and powerful reclaiming of the ancient Greek myth, Medusa finally tells her own story. 

18-year-old Medusa lives on a lonely but beautiful island, with her Gorgon sisters, and her snakes. When the young and lost Perseus stumbles ashore, the two form a bond, and though he never sees her, they begin to tell each other their stories. We hear how both their lives have been shaped by forces beyond their control, by the gods, and by the desire of men. 

At just 14, Medusa had the kind of outrageous beauty that can so easily become a millstone. Despite never seeking anyone’s attention, she’s unfortunate enough to be noticed by both Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena, goddess of wisdom. The rest is as outrageous as it is predictable.  

More powerful even than the story of what is done to Medusa, is the story of how Medusa reintegrates all the scattered parts of herself into a new whole, which is is deeply moving and empowering. One of the many quotable phrases that stand out describes how ‘what Poseidon did to me…has formed only one small brick in the house of me. It is a huge house, which I’ve built and lived in and made beautiful.’  

This is an incredibly relevant and timely retelling of the timeless Greek myth, which is further enlivened by the outstandingly beautiful illustrations, which also add their own distinctive and powerful voice. 

‘Life offers you strange mirrors,’ Medusa tells us. This is certainly true of this book. It may be an inverted reflection of the myth you might have read, but, like the strange mirror Perseus makes of his shield, it reveals what you can’t see when you look straight on. This is fiction at it’s very best, and most important.

(Review by Tim)