Book Review: "Medusa" by Rosie Hewlett

“I had hurled my anger and hatred at the world, spreading misery in a vain attempt to stifle my own. I should have expected it to be thrown back in my face, shouldn't I? After all, violence only ever breeds more violence.”

- Medusa by Rosie Hewlett

Rosie Hewlett first entered my radar when I read the book 'Medea' which I have to say I bought 75% because the cover was simply gorgeous (unfortunately for me, the copy you have seen me with has already been sold). 'Medea' was a fantastic book filled with a great range of characters, the writing was fluid and the way in which the myth was explored was genuinely new and interesting. Rosie Hewlett is showing that she has very similar talents to writers like Jennifer Saint and Constanza Casati in which she too, is able to create worlds of story from myth and legend.

First of all, 'Medusa' covers the early life of the gorgon where she is being set for her transformation (which we all already know of). We get to learn about her relationships with her family and her fairly unstable character - something that you don't get to usually see when reading mythology. One thing I enjoyed about Rosie Hewlett's writing here is that Medusa even before her transformation, is an essentially flawed character - she is not perfect and she is not exactly a simplistic being. In fact, she has many different layers, she has internal conflicts etc. and this is all before anything big has happened to her.

Then we have Medusa's curse which is not only a big part of the myth but is presented as one of the most complex and tense parts of the whole book because obviously, the reader is left confounded about Medusa being 'punished' for what really was nothing to do with her. She is given the ability to turn people to stone and must now, struggle with the new found isolation that this brings her. She goes through a lot of emotional toiling, she becomes extremely lonely and honestly, I think that Rosie Hewlett has written her as a fantastically complex character. It is a battle between having this really prominent power and yet, feeling complete abandonment by the rest of the known world.

We all know how Medusa's myth ends but yet again, Rosie Hewlett pulls something new from the bag. We get intimate portraits of Medusa's sisters, her isolation in carrying what appears to be her rapist's baby and her heartbreaking nothingness in a world where her only purpose is someone must try to kill her. Be that as it may, the tone of Medusa is often sarcastic, profound and beautiful, she often argues her point with great articulation - something which is neither recognised nor pursued in her mythologies. Rosie Hewlett creates a greatly intelligent character who has been punished for something that someone did to her, rather than something she did to anyone else.

Not only this, but we also get to see Medusa's other side. She is a protector and a mother. She is someone who wants the exact same things as everyone else because she too, lives in the same dangerous world they do. She however, is the only one who knows what the true dangers are and has felt them and so her affinity to protect is stronger. I was astounded to read about a very human Medusa given the fact that most else I know has been learnt from mythology. Rosie Hewlett presents us not only with a woman who breaks our hearts, but someone who also is intensely human in her want to protect her young.

All in all, I enjoyed this retelling of the Medusa myth because so far it has brought so much detail to the table. Even though the book itself is shorter than I usually like my mythology retellings, I think that this is a great place to start if you want to learn many different sides to Medusa. We all know how the story is meant to end but Rosie Hewlett goes the extra mile of filling in all the blanks of the betweens and reasons. We really do get access to what Medusa sees when she looks in the mirror.