Medusa

Medusa speaks from the Underworld, tired of centuries of lies about her. Rosie Hewlett's debut novel retells the Greek myth in the Gorgon's own confessional voice, following her from abandonment at birth and a happy childhood through the assault that draws Athena's curse, to her death at the hands of Perseus.

Told as a feminist reclaiming of a figure long cast as a monster, the book presents Medusa as victim, survivor and villain at once. Readers who enjoy mythological retellings from a silenced woman's point of view, in the vein of Circe or Ariadne, will find a short, voice-driven novel here. It was first published by SilverWood Books in 2021, won the Rubery Book of the Year award that year, and was reissued by Bantam in 2025.