Medusa

With this slim, zeitgeisty debut, Hewlett gives a complex voice to the Ancient Greek gorgon Medusa. In an extended monologue that reads like a confessional, Medusa details how she was unwanted from the moment she came into the world. Abandoned by her mother, the primordial sea god Ceto, Medusa was raised by Theia, a priestess at a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Her childhood is relatively happy and peaceful, until her sisters seek her out, Theia dies, and the sea god Poseidon rapes her in Athena’s temple, provoking Athena to curse Medusa and her sisters to become monsters. Medusa does not shy away from the horrors she and her sisters wrought in this state, but as her startlingly vulnerable narrative of hardship and abuse unfolds, she reveals herself to be a victim, a survivor, and, briefly, a mother, as well as a villain. There’s far more telling than showing, but Hewlett impressively captures the voice of a woman who has been silenced and shaped by men into something she never wanted to be. Lovers of mythology are sure to be pleased by this deeper look into Medusa’s origin story. (Self-published)