Natalie Haynes - the Women''s Prize-shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships - brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before . . . ''So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters.'' Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt. And her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know. When the sea god Poseidon commits an unforgivable act in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can - and Medusa is changed forever. Writhing snakes replace her hair, and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. The power cannot be controlled: Medusa can look at nothing without destroying it. She is condemned to a life of shadows and darkness. Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . . PRAISE FOR NATALIE HAYNES: ''With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism... her thoughtful portraits will linger with you long after the book is finished'' Madeline Miller ''Haynes combines a wide-ranging knowledge of the original myths with a gift for compelling narrative'' The Times ''Natalie Haynes is both a witty and an erudite guide. She wears her extensive learning lightly and deftly drags the Classics into the modern world'' Kate Atkinson ''Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories'' Telegraph ''Haynes is the nation''s greatest muse'' Adam Rutherford