But I was tired of men and gods and goddesses dictating the ebb and flow of my happiness, my state of mind… my one true hope was me” “They all tested me they all tried to see if I could break. But in the end, it was taken from me”Ī girl who no longer puts her key to happiness in someone else’s hand she recalls. If you could bottle confidence Medusa recalls “when I was little, my sisters never asked me to be anything other than who I was. In a book that included so many fables, here are some of the standout ones for me The way Burton captured the sentiment around all these themes was extraordinary yet simple, although they did stir up strong emotions. Apart from the often-told horrors of rape, and stories of abandonment, male dominance, and deception, we see a coming-of-age of a girl disfigured and wrongly accused by the people who should be protecting her. A friend or yet another male that is about to deceive her?.īeautiful, captivating and fascinating as a retelling of Medusa, however, the standout from the book are the poignant messages, fables and life lessons that are subtly interspersed through the story. A friend that she begins to trust, and with the desire to shed the ‘ache of loneliness’, she opens up to him. Stalked by Poseidon she is sexually abused by him in Athena’s temple but far from sympathy you would expect from Athena, instead the goddess turns her beautiful hair to a mass of venomous snakes with a promise “woe betide any man fool enough to look upon you now”.įour years on and exiled in a remote island with little company except her two immortal sisters, dog and the snakes that adorn her head, Medusa is entranced by the arrival of Perseus. Medusa was a fourteen-year-old girl who had drawn the attention of Poseidon and Athena for the wrong reasons. A book that is brilliantly conceived, vividly depicted, and expertly written and a book for everyone.
However, forget all that because Jessica Burton tells a very human story about Medusa, the young girl who is thrust into an adult world at the tender age of fourteen, as she learns to deal with betrayal and abuse as she write her own story.Ī story that is magical yet tragic and beautiful yet disturbing in its evocative themes, and poignant messaging. With a look that would turn men to stone, Medusa has earned her place in Greek mythology as the ruthless Gorgon, with a head of snakes. I made a choice, but also that choice was beyond me, waiting for its making”
I am telling you this because you need to understand what happened when Perseus turned up on my island. “I had a map I had a star, but I also made hurricanes. Imaginative, different and a story that provides all the elements we have come to expect in a Greek tragedy. 4 siss-iling stars for the retelling and the reimagining of one of Greek Mythology’s greatest stories.
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