Medusa: The Fourth Kingdom (City Lights Italian Voices)

Among the most unusual narratives to emerge from Europe in recent years, Medusa: The Fourth Kingdom reexamines the myth of the petrifying Gorgon, offering a new perspective on feminity, passion, and self-creation.

The mythological figure of Medusa haunts the life of a young Italian woman, who becomes obsessed with a reticent, emotionally distant man. We hear the woman’s account of their meetings, their lovemaking, her longing. We have another view of her story through a journal account written by one of her friends, who is, among other things, engaged in a study of the myth of Medusa. From diverse perspectives we see her path to independence and wholeness, a initiatory journey that requires courage and love.

A poetic and meticulously constructed story of a woman’s quest for transformation, Medusa takes into account both ordinary and magical aspects of reality to create a contemporary psychological parable.

Marina Minghelli, historian and writer, is the author of the prize-winning book Santa Marina la travestita, a historical study of feminine symbology. She lives in Rome.

Beverly Allen’s books include: Pier Paolo Pasolini:The Poetics of Heresy; The Defiant Muse: Italian Feminist Poetry; Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzogovina and Croatia; and Revisioning Italy: National Identity and Global Culture.