Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023
"Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories."--Telegraph (UK)
The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar returns with a fresh and stunningly perceptive take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman.
They will fear you and flee you and call you a monster.
The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.
When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene's temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge--on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon's actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude.
Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .
In Stone Blind, classicist and comedian Natalie Haynes turns our understanding of this legendary myth on its head, bringing empathy and nuance to one of the earliest stories in which a woman--injured by a powerful man--is blamed, punished, and monstered for the assault. Delving into the origins of this mythic tale, Haynes revitalizes and reconstructs Medusa's story with her passion and fierce wit, offering a timely retelling of this classic myth that speaks to us today.
| ISBN: | 9780063258402 |
| Publication date: | 27th February 2024 |
| Author: | Natalie Haynes |
| Publisher: | Harper Perennial an imprint of HarperCollins |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 384 pages |
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
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Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023"Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories."--Telegraph (UK)The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar returns with a fresh and stunningly perceptive take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman.They will fear you and flee you and call you a monster.
Stone Blind features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction: Traditional stories, myths and fairy tales, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Fiction, Fiction: narrative themes, Audiobooks of the Month, Recommendations
Paperback, Hardback, Audiobook. Not Available.
Stone Blind was written by Natalie Haynes and published by Harper Perennial an imprint of HarperCollins
Stone Blind has 384 pages
Natalie Haynes is a writer, broadcaster, reviewer and classicist. She was once a stand-up comic, but retired when she realised she preferred tragedy to comedy. Always keen to be paid for what she would be reading anyway, she judged the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2010, The Women's Prize for Fiction in 2012, and the Man Booker Prize in 2013. The Amber Fury is her first novel.
