Q&A with Katherine Marsh

 

 

Katherine Marsh is the author of the new middle grade novel The Myth of Monsters: Medusa. Her other books include The Lost Year. She lives in Washington, D.C.

 

Q: What inspired you to write a novel about Medusa, and how did you create your character Ava?

 

A: Medusa is such a potent character who for centuries has served as a stand-in for male fears of female power, so I was drawn to her, especially in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.

 

What if the myths got it wrong and Medusa was not a monster but a woman who used her voice to challenge the gods? This was the premise I started with.

 

My 12-year-old heroine, Ava, is a descendant of Medusa who grapples, as many girls and women do, with how to express her anger at various injustices without coming off as unlikeable.

 

Like The Lost Year, my National Book Award finalist, Medusa is about how to use storytelling to empower yourself and challenge the prevailing historical narrative. 

 

Q: What would you say are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about Medusa?

 

A: Medusa is generally portrayed as loud, ugly, unintelligent, uncivilized. Just look at Carravagio's famous portrait of her disembodied head. Even in Ovid's more sympathetic versions of the original myth, she is a victim of sexual violence, a tragic figure without much agency.

 

I've been really drawn to the trend in adult literature of female authors (i.e. Madeline Miller, Pat Barker) reimagining female characters from the Greek myths and endowing them with backstory, agency, and depth. I like to think that if Percy Jackson and Madeline Miller's Circe had a baby it would be Medusa.

 

I was also inspired by Medusa's name, which curiously does not mean monster or even anything pejorative but rather "guardian." Who Medusa protects and why is answered over the course of my story. 

 

Q: The New York Times review of the novel says, in part, “In this feminist retelling, girls take the lead while boys support and trust them.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love it and I was so pleased with that review!

 

I have a 13-year-old daughter and I've been struck by how many of the mega-successful middle grade fantasy series feature boy heroes and girl sidekicks. Take Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase or Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The girls are portrayed as smart and helpful but not the leaders.

 

I purposefully wrote this series to challenge that and give my daughter another model, one in which the girls are the brave, headstrong heroines destined to lead the action and the boys are their smart, sensible sidekicks.

 

Q: Why did you decide to set the novel in Venice?

 

A: I visited Venice for the first time when I was living in Belgium where I wrote Nowhere Boy. We arrived on the last day of Carnival and I fell in love, not just with the city during the height of the festivities but with it during the misty, quiet, winter days that followed.

 

Once I realized that Poseidon wants to keep kids like Ava on edge, placing them in a city that is constantly under threat of the sea pouring in also made sense.

 

Q: This is the first in a series--can you tell us what's next?

 

A: You bet! The second book in The Myth of Monsters series, The Gods' Revenge, will be coming out in April 2025. I'm super excited about it: there's adventure, jealousy, romance, sports and danger! Plus, vampires...

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I wrote this book not just for girls but for all kids who want a fast-paced, action-filled, smart and funny adventure. My hope is that The Myth of Monsters series will get more middle graders reading at a time when reading for pleasure has fallen off.

 

I also want to encourage young readers not to reject ancient stories but instead to reimagine them, especially with themselves in the lead roles. There's also some Hollywood interest...stay tuned!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Katherine Marsh.