The Children of Jocasta

By: Natalie Haynes

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

A powerful retelling of Oedipus and Antigone from the perspectives of the women the myths overlooked, from Natalie Haynes, the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships and the Sunday Times bestseller Stone Blind.

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.

©Natalie Haynes 2018 (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio

I couldn't stop listening

I have enjoyed Natalie Haynes radio work, but this book was way beyond expectations. If you like myths and how myths change with the telling and the teller, this book is for you. If you don't like myths, listen anyway - so much drama but so delicately written.

Clever and captivating

I had not imagined that a story, I believed I knew already could prove so captivating, but startet it nonetheless after hearing other titles from Natalie Haynes. It is amazingly clever and I found myself gasping at unexpected turns of events.
The narrator is absolutely fabulous! Don't think I've ever heard a better one for fleshing out differences and characteristics in the characters.