But when a forceful young Perseus interferes, Andromeda’s life is set on an entirely new path.Īs 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. 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. That is, until the day she finds an injured boy named Perseus in the forest.

Forging a new life for herself and for her young son Perseus will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.Īs 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. 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.Author of Daughters of Sparta Claire Heywood returns with an imaginative reinterpretation of the myth of the great hero Perseus, bringing to life the voices of three women who are sidelined in the traditional version, and whose stories reveal a man who might not, in fact, be a hero at all.īanished from her homeland thanks to a prophecy foretelling that her unborn child will one day cause the death of her father, Danae finds herself stranded, pregnant, and alone.

That is, until the day she finds an injured boy named Perseus in the forest.Īndromeda: 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. 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. 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.

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.ĭanae: 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.

The shadow of perseus by claire heywood