Medea

With this complex and involving debut, Quin adds to the growing field of Greek myth retellings from the perspectives of monstrous women, probing here into the life of the filicidal heroine of Euripides’s play of the same name. Medea is the second born of an Oceanid and the half-human son of the Titan Helios. Her cruel father, believing himself to be heirless before the birth of Medea’s brother, Prince Phaethon, teaches Medea Pharmakon, the mystical art of “unlocking the secret powers of plants and flowering things.” After Phaethon’s birth, Medea’s mother returns to the sea, and Medea falls into a caretaker role for her younger brother. Her determination to protect Phaethon from a prophecy predicting his death leads her down a dark path into forbidden magic. Later, her relationship with the argonaut Jason takes her across the sea. As Medea’s familiar story unfolds, Quin allows for a great degree of moral complexity, but consistent throughout is her devotion to those she loves—including her eventual ill-fated children. Madeline Miller fans should snap this up. Agent: Jessica Spitz, WME. (Feb)