Marketed as a ‘bravura reimagining’ of the story of Medusa, Stone Blind is part of a trend of novels that rework ancient myths, with the likes of Madeline Miller, Pat Barker and Jennifer Saint leading the way. But whereas those authors place their misunderstood heroines centre stage, Natalie Haynes’s Medusa is made to battle for our attention amid competing plotlines.

Haynes is a stand-up comedian as well as an author, and there is a breathless wit and lyricism running through Stone Blind. The thunderous pace is routinely halted, however, as we are wrenched from Medusa’s side to study Cassiope’s beauty in Ethiopia. We watch events unfold from the