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The Children of Jocasta by [Natalie Haynes]

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Natalie Haynes

The Children of Jocasta Kindle Edition

by Natalie Haynes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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From Natalie Haynes, the Women's Prize shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships, comes The Children of Jocasta, a retelling of Oedipus and Antigone from the perspectives of the women the myths overlooked.

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.

'Haynes balances a fresh take on the material . . . giving new voice to the often-overlooked but fascinating Jocasta and Ismene.' - Madeline Miller, author of Circe.

Print length

350 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Mantle
Publication date

4 May 2017
Reading age

18 years and up
File size

986 KB
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Product description

Review

Natalie Haynes takes on Sophocles in her vivid and affecting second novel -- Fiction to look out for in 2017 ― Observer

Glorious, gripping and brutal . . . I loved it -- Victoria Derbyshire

New life is breathed into a powerful ancient story through Natalie Haynes's clever and vivid story telling. -- Martha Kearney

Nearly every page of Natalie Haynes's The Children of Jocasta could stand alone as poetry. This is a visceral, engrossing, and meticulously-crafted reimagining of two of the most important stories of all time. A truly remarkable feat -- Dr Amanda Foreman

In this gripping novel, Haynes takes us to the breaking heart of one epically dysfunctional family and makes heroines of those previously doomed to be spectators of their own tragedy -- Damian Barr, author of Maggie & Me

Haynes is master of her trade, crafting perfect sentences and believable characters who speak and think in delicately nuanced language. [She] succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories to show how remarkably little basic human relationships and emotions have changed ― Telegraph

Haynes’s fascination with this long vanished world is evident in every line . . . Her Thebes... is vividly captured: a place of hard light and sharp shadows, dust, fountains and dry heat. ― Guardian

Atmospherically evoking a landscape of longed-for lakes and dark mountains, Haynes also subtly explores the “space between us and them” – between rulers and the people; parents and children; our personas and most secret selves ― Observer

A wonderful and inventive take on an ancient tale -- Antonia Senior ― The Times

Haynes has written her own version of the tragedy, finding new space in the narrative by looking at it through the eyes of two characters neglected by antiquity: Oedipus’s mother/bride Jocasta and their youngest daughter Ismene . . . Some of this novel’s greatest satisfactions come from the way Haynes translates the story out of the mythic and into a naturalistic register of love, loss and ambition . . . The ancient city state comes vividly alive in Haynes’s hands, and canny deviations from the archetypal outline keep the suspense going. In The Children of Jocasta, Haynes has written a fine new story between the old lines. ― Spectator

A passionate and gripping account of a famously dysfunctional family. Haynes balances a fresh take on the material with a deep love for her sources, wearing her scholarship with grace, and giving new voice to the often-overlooked but fascinating Jocasta and Ismene. -- Madeline Miller, Orange Prize winning author of The Song of Achilles --This text refers to the paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

‘Visceral, engrossing . . . A truly remarkable feat’ Amanda Foreman
‘Vividly captured . . . Haynes’s fascination with this long vanished world is evident in every line’ Guardian
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 that 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 was 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 . . .
The Children of Jocasta follows the lives of two forgotten women from the myths of Oedipus and Antigone, casting fresh light on these ancient and engrossing stories.
‘Glorious, gripping and brutal . . . I loved it’ Victoria Derbyshire
‘A wonderful and inventive take on an ancient tale’ The Times

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MPZIDUH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mantle; Main Market edition (4 May 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 986 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 350 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 7,473 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 28 in Drama (Books)
- 69 in Classic Literary Fiction
- 91 in Fantasy Fairy Tales

Customer reviews:
1,282 ratings

About the author

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Natalie Haynes

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Natalie Haynes is a writer, broadcaster, and classicist. She was once a stand-up comic, but retired when she realised she preferred tragedy to comedy. She has published three novels, The Amber Fury (The Furies - US) in 2014, The Children of Jocasta (2017) and A Thousand Ships (2019), which was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020. She has also published two non-fiction book, The Ancient Guide to Modern Life (2010) and Pandora's Jar (2020). She also has a radio series, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, which is available on BBC Sounds and Audible.

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Customer reviews

5 star		56%
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3 star		11%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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A retelling that is maybe most enjoyable if you don't know the originals

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 July 2021

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I imagine a reader's opinion of this book is bound to be influenced by their feelings about the original Greek plays by Sophocles that this novel retells. I came to the novel without any knowledge of the story of Oedipus or Antigone (the major characters in the plays) other than a vague idea about Oedipus via the Freudian named 'Oedipus complex'. So I was able to read with fresh eyes, no idea what was going to happen, enjoying the story as though it was an original. But I couldn't then appreciate the ways in which it deviated from or reimagined the originals.

The story is told in alternating chapters by two women, both more minor characters in the originals. Jocasta is a merchant's daughter who as a teenager is sent to marry an elderly king. Ismene is her youngest daughter, who picks up the story ten years after Jocasta's death. Both are interesting and sympathetic characters, but I particularly liked Ismene. The story they tell is not a happy one (they don't call them Greek tragedies for nothing) but is compelling and well spun out.

Haynes writes really well, with an easy, accessible style that is always enjoyable. There's no need to know anything about ancient Greece or the original myths to be able to appreciate the book - in fact I suspect it might be a bonus not to know too much. Certainly I was able to enjoy it in a way I might not have if I'd had more preconceptions about how the story 'should have' gone.

But if readers can put aside their feelings about any previous versions, then this should be enjoyable as a compelling and well written novel set in a civilisation whose remarkable sophistication sat alongside the harshness of life in such ancient times.

10 people found this helpful

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Mr Greenfingers

Great retelling of a classic Greek story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2022

Verified Purchase

Excellent story! I was always keen on the Greek myths as a kid, but I only knew the basics of Oedipus and Jocasta. Although a classic Greek tragedy the key elements always seemed a bit overblown and far-fetched to me. However this is a great retelling - one of those books that really takes you back and makes you think 'this is how it could actually have happened, and then spawned a legend'. In that sense it really made me think of the Mary Renault books - in particular the stories about Theseus 'The King must Die' and 'The Bull from the Sea'. Those books were really special too, some of the best I have ever read so I can think of no higher compliment really. It also reminds you of a Shakespearian tragedy, in particular Romeo and Juliet. Although some of the events in the book are of course tragic Haynes does a great job of interweaving the story of Jocasta and Oedipus's children, and also telling it from the point of view of Jocasta and Ismene rather than just the male protagonists. She provides a lot of humanity to the characters and the story in fact has some bittersweet facets to the ending - not quite as grim as I feared and also that made it ring more true, as if this was a real life family story. Great book, thoroughly recommended if you love the Ancient Greek myths - or even if you don't, great stories stand the test of time!

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Unconvincing take on the Oedipus myth

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2019

Verified Purchase

I was really excited about this book, I love Sophocles' play and I bought the book expecting a refreshing perspective on the two reletively minor characters. Instead what I got was an implausible story, taking too many liberties. I was proud that I finished the book, and that is partially because of the only positive thing I can say about this book- the easy style of writing. I hoped perhaps the closing chapters would redeem the story....this was not the case.

10 people found this helpful

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Jane Ennis

The Children of Jocasta

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 September 2020

Verified Purchase

Fascinating retelling of the Oedipus story and its affermath. The narraative concentrates on developing the character of Jocasta, which is not well-delineated in the original version. He girlhood and marriage to Laius is narrated, interspersed with chapters narrated by the youngest daughter, Ismene. There is the tragic irony of about 10 years of happy family life for Jocasta, Oedipus and their children before the truth emerges.

3 people found this helpful

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Jude

Natalie Haynes rocks!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2019

Verified Purchase

This was for me and my interest as Natalie Haynes is one of my favourites on BBC Radio 4 with her highly amusing ad erudite series "Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics". She makes it all so interesting and accessible and this book helps even more.

8 people found this helpful

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Desdemona

No empathy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2018

Verified Purchase

An interesting take on the ancient myths, and well researched and considered. However, I found no empathy with any of the characters - they didn't appeal to either negative or positive emotions. I really didn't care one way or the other. Technically interesting, emotionally dull.

10 people found this helpful

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HBarlin

Simply astonishing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2020

Verified Purchase

As a boy, I loved reading Mary Renault. In this retelling of the ancient story, I rediscover my awe of the ancient (that is, pre-Roman) world and can again read the mythic as real. Natalie Haynes evokes both the grandeur and claustrophobia of great times.

3 people found this helpful

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Satisfied cutomer!

Great condition, good book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2021

Verified Purchase

I love Classical Studies, and especially the current crop of novels, usually by women authors, breathing new life into the ancient stories. Though I prefer The Thousand Ships, this novel is a great way to reinforce one's understanding of the Oedipus saga. The book itself arrived promptly, in excellent condition.

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