Medusa

SHORTLISTED FOR THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL'A beautiful and profound retelling' - Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe 'Gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity' - Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Elektra If I told you that I’d killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? The why, the how, what happened next?

Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you’ve been told about Medusa. Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last. Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: Medusa the Monster. But when the charmed and beautiful Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is blown apart, unleashing desire, love... and betrayal. 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. '… a must-read for women of all ages' - Red magazine 'Utterly transporting' - Guardian Books of the Year'… an impressive addition to the shelves of feminist retellings, balancing rage with beautiful storytelling' - Irish Times

A beautiful and profound retelling ... a powerfully feminist, elegaic and original twist on this old story. The book tackles pain and trauma without flinching, but its message is ultimately one of joy and hope, Utterly transporting, A beautiful and compassionate retelling that gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity ... Medusa's vulnerability, strength and journey of self-acceptance is one that will stay with me, [A] beguiling, lyrical, but also relatable retelling of the myth of Medusa ... [that] reclaims her both as an ordinary teenage girl who was exploited, brutalised then punished and also as a feminist icon who refuses to be a victim when she can be a proud survivor ... Medusa is a must read for women of all ages, Destined to become as much an artefact of our own age as it is an illumination of the ancient past [...] bracing and powerful

Jessie Burton studied at the University of Oxford and then went on to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is the author of four novels for adults, The Muse (2016), The Confession (2019), The Miniaturist (2014) and its sequel The House of Fortune (2022), and is both a Sunday Times no. 1 bestseller and a New York Times bestseller. The Miniaturist sold a million copies worldwide in its first year and has also been adapted for television by the BBC. Jessie is now published in forty languages. Her first children’s story, The Restless Girls, was published by Bloomsbury in 2018.