Rosie Hewlett: Books That Changed My Life

Although it is technically an "epic poem" not a "book", I knew I had to include The Odyssey in this list, as it was my first ever dive into the incredible world of Greek mythology. I was lucky enough to study Homer’s work in secondary school, and I can still remember the excitement I felt every lesson, being able to escape the confines of my classroom and jump into this fantastical realm of famous heroes, epic adventures, and capricious gods.

The Odyssey was the spark that ignited my life-long love of the ancient world, a love that led me to study classical literature and civilisation at university and has subsequently shaped so much of my life. 

The Song of Achilles is, undoubtedly, my favourite book of all time. I first read it when I was 15 years old and my obsession with the ancient world was still fairly new. To put it simply, this book blew my mind. At that time, I had never come across a modern myth retelling before and had thought only the ancients could tell their own stories.

The Song of Achilles allowed me to view the world of myth in an entirely new way, showing me that mythology isn’t a fixed idea cemented in the past, but an ever-changing, ever-evolving dialogue that continues into the present. After reading this book, I not only fell in love with Miller’s writing, but also with the idea of continuing the tradition of myth retellings and keeping this ancient custom alive. Though it was many years later until I wrote my own retelling, The Song of Achilles definitely planted that seed of inspiration. 

When I sat down to consider this list of books, Twilight kept surfacing to the top and I knew I had to include it. Books that "change our lives" do not have to be literary classics or epic masterpieces, they can just be stories we fell in love with, that made us feel a certain way. I read Twilight when I was 12, and it was the first time I experienced being truly consumed by a book and had that I-literally-cannot-put-this-down feeling.

I became a self-proclaimed Twi-Hard fan (as we proudly called ourselves back in the day), covering my room from floor to ceiling in merchandise, begging my parents to drive hours to attend random conventions in the middle of nowhere. Twilight really ignited my hunger for reading.

I began devouring book after book, chasing that same, magical feeling it had given me, and opening so many doors to new worlds and characters in the process. Over the past decade, my sparkly vampire fixation has sadly faded but my hunger for reading has continued to grow. I will always be grateful to Twilight for that (and for giving me my taste in broody, morally grey fictional men).

Medea by Rosie Hewlett is published by Bantam (£16.99)