Medea

Medea is among the most notorious women in the canon of Greek tragedy: a woman scorned who sacrifices her own children to her jealous rage. In this gripping new novel, Christa Wolf explodes the myth, offering modern readers a highly relevant portrayal of a fiercely independent woman ensnared in a brutal political battle. Medea, driven by conscience to leave her corrupt homeland, arrives in Corinth with her husband, the hero Jason. He is welcomed, but she is branded an outsider. When she discovers the appalling secret behind the King of Corinth's claim to power, Medea is unwilling to ignore this horrifying truth and becomes a threat to the King and his ruthless advisers. Then, abandoned by Jason and made a public scapegoat, she is reviled as a witch and murderess. Possessed of the enduring truths so treasured in the classics, yet with a thoroughly contemporary spin, MEDEA is a stunningly perceptive and honest work of fiction. 'Wolf is in a league of her own with her handling of myth and history, and her ability to interweave the personal and the political' Scotland on Sunday