Shirley’s Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book! I’ve been a big fan of mythology all of my life – I’ve also had unruly curly hair all my life, so I hold a special sympathy for Medusa. Bear’s debut novel tells a compassionate story of the three Gorgons and how they came to be perceived as monstrous.
Julie’s Thoughts: Medusa is a powerful symbol for a lot of women. Her story resonates in a way that is both profound and deeply sad. This exploration of sisterhood and hidden power only adds to the tale, making it both timeless and startlingly current. Fans of Circe should not miss this gorgeous, transformative story.
The end of the story is only the beginning…
Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa and her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were unique among immortals. Curious about mortals and their lives, Medusa and her sisters entered the human world in search of a place to belong, yet quickly found themselves at the perilous center of a dangerous Olympian rivalry and learned—too late—that a god’s love is a violent one.
Forgotten by history and diminished by poets, the other two Gorgons have never been more than horrifying hags, damned and doomed. But they were sisters first, and their journey from sea-born origins to the outskirts of the Parthenon is a journey that rests, hidden, underneath their scales.
Monsters, but not monstrous, Stheno and Euryale will step into the light for the first time to tell the story of how all three sisters lived and were changed by each other, as they struggle against the inherent conflict between sisterhood and individuality, myth and truth, vengeance and peace.
