Medusa

Gruender’s ingenious debut brings new life to the story of Medusa, a woman wrongfully punished for a man’s transgressions. Medusa alone among her divine sisters is a mortal—but according to a prophesy, she is destined to become a monster. This prediction further separates her from her siblings Sheno and Euryale. Together, these triplets are known as the Gorgons. As immortals, Sheno and Euryale have no interest in the mortal world, but their mother insists the three Gorgons travel from their isolated beach to live among humans. This sets the Gorgons on the path to Athens, where Medusa finds her calling as a priestess of Athena. When Poseidon rapes Medusa at the foot of Athena’s altar, Athena—who cannot punish a fellow god—turns her wrath onto Medusa, transforming her. Newly monstrous, Medusa wanders from Dionysus’s mountain, where she befriends a kind naiad, to the home of her sister Echidna, and finally back to the rest of the Gorgons as she figures out how to live—and maybe even be happy—with all that has happened to her. Gruender brings a truly new spin to Medusa’s story, casting her as a tragic but resilient character who seeks to live on her own terms. In a saturated market for retellings of Greek myth, this holds its own. Agent: Melanie Figueroa, Root Literary. (Aug.)