Medea

DEBUT The revival of Greek myth retellings continues with Quin’s retelling of Medea’s story. The author presents Medea, known for killing her children as vengeance against her husband, not as a murderous witch but as a woman who must contend with the realities and expectations of womanhood, even as a young child. The myths of Medea and others are interwoven into the novel and result in a version that is overwhelmingly human, thoughtful, and driven by feelings Medea is not sure she can genuinely possess: love. She is weighed down by the necessity of her future in a world that can only understand her as a one-sided person rather than a multifaceted woman doing what she feels she must to survive. She grapples with the horrors of a life controlled by men whose goals are to further their future by containing and diminishing hers. Ultimately, this title shows that the revered stories and myths of heroes leave out the splintered paths of destruction and heartbreak left in their wake.