Nationally bestselling author of Daughters of Sparta Claire Heywood
returns with an imaginative and female-centered reinterpretation of the
myth of the great hero Perseus, told through the voices of three women
who are sidelined in the traditional version--his mother, Danae; his
trophy, Medusa; and his wife, Andromeda--but whose viewpoints reveal a
man who is not, in fact, a hero at all.
Danae: Banished from her homeland thanks to a prophecy foretelling
that her unborn child will one day cause the death of her father, the
king of Argos, Danae finds herself stranded, pregnant, and alone in a
remote fishing village. It's a harsh new world for a young woman who
grew up as a coddled princess, and forging a new life for herself and
for her young son Perseus will be the hardest thing she's ever done.
Medusa: As a member of a reclusive band of women who live deep in the
woods, known as the Gorgons, Medusa has eschewed all contact with the
outside world. That is, until the day she finds an injured boy named
Perseus in the forest.
Andromeda: When a harsh sandstorm threatens to destroy her nomadic
desert tribe's way of life, Andromeda knows that a sacrifice will be
required to appease the gods and end the storm. But when a forceful
young Perseus interferes, Andromeda's life is set on an entirely new
path.
As Perseus becomes increasingly obsessed with the promise of his own
destiny, his heroic journey casts a shadow of violence and destruction
across all three women's lives. But even as he tries to silence them,
the women may find that reclaiming their voices is their only hope for
lifting themselves into a better future.
