Medusa: The Girl Behind the Myth (Illustrated Gift Edition)

Product Information

I first came across Jessie Burton’s work in her novel The Miniaturist, an imaginative and intricate story of love and betrayal in seventeenth century Amsterdam, inspired by Petronella Oortman’s gorgeous doll’s house, on display to the public in the Rijksmuseum. it was clear from this debut piece, that Burton could handle a complex plot with style and subtlety. It is the reason I opened Medusa with such hopes of a roller coaster read. But it does not live up to her previous work, and even if, as some reviewers have suggested, this is a book aimed at young adults, it simply does not go dark or deep enough, to fulfil the fateful promise – or curse – of its legendary namesake. A dazzling, feminist retelling of Greek myth from the internationally bestselling author of The Miniaturist, stunningly illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

Fierce and tender and full of heart; the reclamation of self that Medusa is owed, the version of the myth that deserves to be told, passed girl to girl, painted across walls and screamed from rooftops - Melinda Salisbury 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? The Medusa. What did he mean, the Medusa? My name was Medusa, and I was a girl. Perseus had made me sound like a mythical beast. I didn't want to be a myth. I wanted to be me.” Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except for the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love, and betrayal. Gives the serpent-headed monster of myth a powerful and haunting humanity' - Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Elektra

Filled with glorious full-colour illustrations by award-winning Olivia Lomenech Gill, this astonishing retelling of Greek myth is perfect for readers of Circe and The Silence of the Girls. Illuminating the girl behind the legend, it brings alive Medusa for a new generation. From Goodreads. This glorious retelling of Medusa will stay with me for a very long time. The writing is stunning, as one might expect with Jessie Burton, and the story feels searingly, heartbreakingly relevant for the world we live in. It's a work of art - Louise O'Neill

Ovid's Medusa is one of the characters of Greek myth I'm most drawn to. Her story of being cursed to be a monster with snakes for hair and causing people to turn to stone by looking at her as punishment from Athena for being raped in her temple by Poseidon makes me so very angry. And there's so much of her story that is just so relatable, she's a character I feel a great kinship with. Because of this, I've always been on the lookout for a great retelling of her story, and Jessie Burton's Medusa doesn't do a bad job. Never mind being born with a silver spoon in his mouth; try a golden shovel. It was one thing we did not have in common. I grew up in happy obscurity under the moon, but Perseus had been drenched by the strongest beam of sun.”It's the hardest thing in the world to explain yourself, to tell your story clearly. We are all of us such complicated creatures, whether we have snakes for hair or not. Who we are, and why we are like that I do not think there is a soul this side of Mount Olympus who can effortlessly explain the twists and turns their life has taken, why they might prefer a fig cake over a honey one, why they fell in love with that man rather than his friend, why they cry at night, or cry at beauty, or cry for no reason at all. But still. It's all we can do.” But there's also more to Medusa's story than the terrible things she has suffered. In her retelling, Burton takes things a step further, and allows Medusa to grow from a place of loathing the way she looks, her internalised victim blaming, of believing that who she is isn't good enough, and that only through Perseus getting to know her without seeing her, will Perseus ever love her. In this story learns self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-love. That not only is this who she is now, but who she wants to be, snakes and all, and that should be good enough for Perseus, because it's definitely good enough for her. In this haunting reimagining of the myth of Medusa and Perseus, Burton positions the pair as teenagers swept up in the capricious gods' machinations, struggling to defy the destinies thrust upon them... Medusa's first-person voice is formally distant, hinting at her inner turmoil and experiences with misogynistic double standards. Lomenech Gill's angular, full-color illustrations add another layer of depth to the story." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)