Feb 17

Feb 17 Stone Blind

Author: Natalie Haynes
Publisher: Harper Books
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A fresh 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.

TL;DR Review

Stone Blind is another tragic, polyphonic work of art from Natalie Haynes — this time focused on one storyline (Medusa’s). Fans of A Thousand Ships will like this!

For you if: You like feminist Greek mythology retellings and books with multiple narrators.

Full Review

I loved Natalie Haynes’ Womens-Prize-nominated A Thousand Ships — I still think it has one of the best opening lines I’ve read — so when I heard she had a Medusa novel coming out, I was HYPED. Friends, I am happy to report that it delivered.

Stone Blind is indeed Medusa’s story (a mortal Gorgon raised by her sisters, assaulted by Poseidon in Athene’s temple, turned into a monster by Athene in revenge, decapitated by Perseus and carried around as a murderous head), but it’s also broader than that. Haynes uses her gift for writing a polyphonic chorus to zoom in and out, back and forth, to and fro. We get the wider scope of the story, how it balloons out of the gods’ squabbles, how Perseus got there, etc. In that way, those of us who loved A Thousand Ships get a touch of the same magic, but this time applied to a more focused storyline.

I will say that I had been expecting a bit more time in Medusa’s head, but it totally works, and you can tell Haynes had a ton of fun writing these characters. Zeus and Hera are especially entertaining. I also appreciated how this wasn’t exactly a recasting of Medusa’s story where she’s actually good and everyone else is bad, but more of an examination of how perspective changes things. For example, at first, Perseus feels sympathetic, but seen through new eyes (heh), his privilege and self-centeredness becomes more obvious.

I’m not sure this feels as prizeworthy as A Thousand Ships did; there were some moments that felt a little cheesy or on the nose. But ultimately I quite enjoyed it — well-done, quick, fun read from a favorite author. Can’t go wrong!