Natalie Haynes – författare

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for FictionIn Stone Blind, the instant Sunday Times bestseller, Natalie Haynes brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before.'Witty, gripping, ruthless' – Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, via X (Twitter)‘So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters’Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt.When Poseidon commits an unforgiveable act against Medusa in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can: on his victim. Medusa is changed forever – writhing snakes for hair and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. She can look at nothing without destroying it.Desperate to protect her beloved sisters, Medusa condemns herself to a life of shadows. Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .‘A fierce feminist exploration of female rage, written with wit and empathy’ – Glamour

'An illuminating and often thrilling work of feminist reclamation' – The GuardianNo Friend to This House is an extraordinary reimagining of the myth of Medea from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes.This is what no one tells you, in the songs sung about Jason and the Argo. This part of his quest has been forgotten, by everyone but me . . .Jason and his Argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece. The journey is filled with danger, for him and everyone he meets. But if he ever reaches the distant land he seeks, he faces almost certain death.Medea – priestess, witch, and daughter of a brutal king – has the power to save the life of a stranger. Will she betray her family and her home, and what will she demand in return?Medea and Jason seize their one chance of a life together, as the gods intend. But their love is steeped in vengeance from the beginning, and no one – not even those closest to them – will be safe.Based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, this is Medea as you've never seen her before . . .Readers are loving No Friend to This House:‘No Friend to This House is brutal and gut wrenching . . . I loved it!’‘No Friend to This House is well paced, intricately woven and very clever - it's a history lesson without the lecture’'Haynes once again proves that she's the reigning queen of reimagined myth . . . bold, heartbreaking, and utterly unforgettable. I loved it'

'An illuminating and often thrilling work of feminist reclamation' – The GuardianNo Friend to This House is an extraordinary reimagining of the myth of Medea from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes.This is what no one tells you, in the songs sung about Jason and the Argo. This part of his quest has been forgotten, by everyone but me . . .Jason and his Argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece. The journey is filled with danger, for him and everyone he meets. But if he ever reaches the distant land he seeks, he faces almost certain death.Medea – priestess, witch, and daughter of a brutal king – has the power to save the life of a stranger. Will she betray her family and her home, and what will she demand in return?Medea and Jason seize their one chance of a life together, as the gods intend. But their love is steeped in vengeance from the beginning, and no one – not even those closest to them – will be safe.Based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, this is Medea as you've never seen her before . . .Readers are loving No Friend to This House:‘No Friend to This House is brutal and gut wrenching . . . I loved it!’‘No Friend to This House is well paced, intricately woven and very clever - it's a history lesson without the lecture’'Haynes once again proves that she's the reigning queen of reimagined myth . . . bold, heartbreaking, and utterly unforgettable. I loved it'

Get ready to meet the goddesses . . .From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind and Pandora’s Jar, Natalie Haynes.These are the stories of the Greek goddesses. As fearsome, powerful and beloved as their male counterparts, it’s time to look beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within.We meet Hera, who, whilst most often known for enacting vicious, creative revenge on the women – mortal or otherwise – who catch the wandering eye of her husband Zeus, turns out not to be such a villain after all.We meet Demeter, a mother who will go to any lengths, no matter the cost, to retrieve her daughter Persephone from Hades’ clutches.We’ll be introduced to The Furies, three women who will literally go to the ends of the earth to enact bloody vengeance but who, surprisingly, are the goddesses who can teach us the most about the way we live now.Examining the role of these goddesses and more, Divine Might will change everything you thought you knew about our most ancient stories. Full of fire, fury and devotion, Natalie Haynes brings the divine women of Olympia kicking and screaming into the modern age.'The great champion of women in Greek myth . . . One of the delights of the book is that Haynes reacquaints us with forgotten goddesses' – Daily Mail

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for FictionFrom a powerful all-female perspective, in A Thousand Ships, classicist and author of Divine Might, Natalie Haynes retells the story of the Trojan War – putting the women, girls and goddesses at the centre of the story.Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls.This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women embroiled in the legendary war.'With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War' – Madeline Miller, author of Circe'A many-layered delight' – The Guardian'A gripping feminist masterpiece' – Deborah Frances-White, The Guilty Feminist

A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.· Naomi Alderman· Leigh Bardugo· Alyssa Cole· Lucy Foley· Elly Griffiths· Natalie Haynes· Jean Kwok· Val McDermid· Karen M. McManus· Dreda Say Mitchell· Kate Mosse· Ruth WareMiss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

A special edition collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.·Naomi Alderman·Leigh Bardugo·Alyssa Cole·Lucy Foley·Elly Griffiths·Natalie Haynes·Jean Kwok·Val McDermid·Karen M. McManus·Dreda Say Mitchell·Kate Mosse·Ruth WareMiss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

1000-PIECE PUZZLE featuring the women of Greek mythology as you've never seen them before. Finished puzzle measures 680 x 485mmSPOT FAMOUS FIGURES AND MYTHICAL MOMENTS, as you build the puzzle - can you find Pandora and her jar, or Medusa with snakes for hair?INCLUDES A FOLD-OUT POSTER featuring the stories of the real women of Greek myth from best-selling author and classicist Natalie HaynesSTURDY & ATTRACTIVE BOX perfect for gifting and storageThink you know these women? Put the pieces together and you will start to think again.In this beautifully illustrated 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, rediscover the lives and stories of the women of Greek myth, portrayed by author, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes with illustrator Natalie Foss.A large fold-out poster of the artwork accompanies the jigsaw and also includes an original essay from the author, expanding on the stories, relationships and context surrounding these infamous women.Featuring mortals and goddesses alike, from Medusa and Medea to Helen, Euridice, Aphrodite, Phaedra, Artemis and more, uncover the truth about the women of the classics.

Add some drama to your card games with Aphrodite, Artemis, Medusa and more!This beautifully illustrated deck of traditional playing cards features the women of Greek myths as you've never seen them before! Discover feminist retellings of their stories by Natalie Haynes, bestselling author of Pandora's Jar, in the accompanying booklet.FEATURES FAMOUS MYTHOLOGICAL WOMEN from Medusa and Medea to Helen, Eurydice, Aphrodite, Artemis and more.BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED by Natalie Foss, this deck reimagines what you think you know about the women of Greek Myth.54 CARD DECK with standard playing card suits, numbers and court cards: can be used in exactly the same way as normal playing cards.PUBLISHED BY LAURENCE KING - Laurence King has been capturing imaginations and inspiring creativity in new and unexpected ways for over 30 years, with playful and eye-catching games, gifts and books.

In The Children of Jocasta, Natalie Haynes takes a fresh perspective on an ancient story, reimagining in gripping prose how the Oedipus and Antigone stories would look if the oft-overlooked female characters took centre stage. Retelling the myth to reveal a new side of an ancient story . . .My siblings and I have grown up in a cursed house, children of cursed parents . . .Jocasta is just fifteen when she is told that she must marry the King of Thebes, an old man she has never met. Her life has never been her own, and nor will it be, unless she outlives her strange, absent husband.Ismene is the same age when she is attacked in the palace she calls home. Since the day of her parents' tragic deaths a decade earlier, she has always longed to feel safe with the family she still has. But with a single act of violence, all that is about to change.With the turn of these two events, a tragedy is set in motion. But not as you know it.

In the many retellings of the Greek myths, the focus is generally on gods and heroes, but Natalie Haynes refocuses our gaze on the remarkable women at the centre of these ancient stories.'Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to!' – Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's TaleThe Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories.Now, in Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, Natalie Haynes – broadcaster, writer and passionate classicist – redresses this imbalance. Taking Pandora and her jar (the box came later) as the starting point, she puts the women of the Greek myths on equal footing with the menfolk.Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus. But modern tellers of Greek myth have usually been men, and have routinely shown little interest in telling women’s stories. And when they do, those women are often painted as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil. But Pandora – the first woman, who according to legend unloosed chaos upon the world – was not a villain, and even Medea and Phaedra have more nuanced stories than generations of retellings might indicate.After millennia of stories telling of gods and men, be they Zeus or Odysseus, the voices that sing from these pages are those of Hera, Athena and Artemis, and of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Eurydice and Penelope.'A treasure box of classical delights. Never has ancient misogyny been presented with so much wit and style' - historian Amanda Foreman

'Passionate and gripping' – Madeline Miller, bestselling author of CirceA powerful retelling of Oedipus and Antigone that casts fresh light on the women the myths overlooked. From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes.My siblings and I have grown up in a cursed house, children of cursed parents . . .Jocasta is just fifteen when she is ordered to marry the King of Thebes, an old man she has never met. But it is her duty to produce an heir, who will alter the course of her life forever.Ismene is the same age when she is attacked in the palace she calls home. Since the day of her parents' tragic deaths, it had been the one place she felt safe. But with a single act of violence, all that is about to change.With the turn of these two events, a tragedy is set in motion. But not as you know it . . .'A wonderful and inventive take on an ancient tale' – The Times'Haynes’s fascination with this long vanished world is evident in every line' – The Guardian'Glorious, gripping and brutal . . . I loved it' – Victoria Derbyshire, journalist and broadcaster-Praise for Natalie Haynes:'Witty, gripping, ruthless' – Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, via X'The great champion of women in Greek myth' – Daily Mail‘A fierce feminist exploration of female rage, written with wit and empathy’ – Glamour

* A Marie Claire Best Book of 2026 *Exiled daughter, abandoned wife, vengeful mother. But is that where the truth lies? This is the story of Medea as you’ve never heard it before.Jason and his Argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece. The journey is filled with danger, and if Jason ever reaches the distant land he seeks, he faces almost certain death.Medea – priestess, witch, and daughter of the brutal king who jealously guards the fleece – has the power to save Jason's life. Will she betray her family and her home?Burning with desire for this stranger, as the gods intend, Medea chooses Jason over her kin. But their love is steeped in vengeance from the beginning, and no one – not even those closest to them – will be safe when their passion is spent . . .Based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, this is Medea as you’ve never seen her before . . .Praise for Natalie Haynes:‘Witty, gripping, ruthless’ – Margaret Atwood on Stone Blind‘Fiercely feminist . . . A many-layered delight’ – The Guardian on A Thousand Ships‘Passionate and gripping’ – Madeline Miller, author of Circe on The Children of JocastaNo Friend to This House is an extraordinary reimagining of the myth of Medea from Natalie Haynes, the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind.

Get ready to meet the goddesses, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind and Pandora’s Jar, Natalie Haynes.These are the stories of the Greek goddesses. As fearsome, powerful and beloved as their male counterparts, it’s time to look beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within . . .We meet Hera, who, whilst most often known for enacting vicious, creative revenge on the women – mortal or otherwise – who catch the wandering eye of her husband Zeus, turns out not to be such a villain after all.We meet Demeter, a mother who will go to any lengths, no matter the cost, to retrieve her daughter Persephone from Hades’ clutches.We’ll be introduced to The Furies, three women who will literally go to the ends of the earth to enact bloody vengeance but who, surprisingly, are the goddesses who can teach us the most about the way we live now.Examining the role of these goddesses and more, Divine Might will change everything you thought you knew about our most ancient stories. Full of fire, fury and devotion, Natalie Haynes brings the divine women of Olympia kicking and screaming into the modern age.

In Divine Might Natalie Haynes, author of the bestselling Pandora’s Jar, returns to the world of Greek myth and this time she examines the role of the goddesses.We meet Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father’s head: goddess of war and wisdom, guardian of Athens. We run with Artemis, goddess of hunting and protector of young girls (apart from those she decides she wants as a sacrifice). Here is Aphrodite, goddess of sex and desire – there is no deity more determined and able to make you miserable if you annoy her. And then there’s the queen of all the Olympian gods: Hera, Zeus’s long-suffering wife, whose jealousy of his dalliances with mortals, nymphs and goddesses lead her to wreak elaborate, vicious revenge on those who have wronged her.We also meet Demeter, goddess of agriculture and mother of the kidnapped Persephone, we sing the immortal song of the Muses and we warm ourselves with Hestia, goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire. The Furies carry flames of another kind – black fires of vengeance for those who incur their wrath.These goddesses are as mighty, revered and destructive as their male counterparts. Isn’t it time we looked beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within?

'Natalie Haynes is both a witty and an erudite guide. She wears her extensive learning lightly and deftly drags the Classics into the modern world' - Kate AtkinsonFrom snaky Echidna – mother of monsters – to the fearsome Minotaur, the strange and terrible creatures of Greek Myths have been grabbing our attention for thousands of years.In Irresistible Monsters, bestselling author, broadcaster and passionate classicist Natalie Haynes turns her inimitable gaze on the inhuman, and reveals that even the things we thought we knew aren’t necessarily so: a Cyclops doesn’t always have one eye, and Cerberus doesn’t start out with three heads.Along the way, she examines how we think about monsters: what makes a monster, and why do we need them? Do they subvert the world as we know it, or subtly reinforce our expectations? Is a monster human or animal, mortal or divine? And how do you defeat a multi-headed snake when it has a giant crab as its henchman?

"When you open up, who will you let in? When Alex Morris loses her fiance in dreadful circumstances, she moves from London to Edinburgh to make a break with the past. Alex takes a job at a Pupil Referral Unit, which accepts the students excluded from other schools in the city. These are troubled, difficult kids and Alex is terrified of what she's taken on. There is one class - a group of five teenagers - who intimidate Alex and every other teacher on The Unit. But with the help of the Greek tragedies she teaches, Alex gradually develops a rapport with them. Finding them enthralled by tales of cruel fate and bloody revenge, she even begins to worry that they are taking her lessons to heart, and that a whole new tragedy is being performed, right in front of her..."

*** From the bestselling author of Stone Blind and A Thousand Ships ***When you open up, who will you let in?Alex Morris has lost everything: her relationship, her career and her faith in the future. Moving to Edinburgh to escape her demons, Alex takes a job teaching at a Pupil Referral Unit. It's a place for kids whose behaviour is so extreme that they cannot be taught in a regular classroom. Alex is fragile with grief and way out of her depth. Her fourth-year students are troubled and violent. Desperate to reach them, Alex turns to the stories she knows best. Greek tragedy isn't the most obvious way to win over such damaged children, yet these tales of fate, family and vengeance speak directly to them.Enthralled by the bloodthirsty justice of the ancient world, the teenagers begin to weave the threads of their own tragedy - one that Alex watches, helpless to prevent.