I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes is a mixed third and first person multi-POV multi-timeline grounded historical fantasy retelling of the story of Oedipus and Jocasta. Jocasta is married off to the king of Thebes, who has gone too long without an heir and is uninterested in marriage, children or his new wife. When he dies and Oedipus presents an opportunity for Jocasta to become the ruler of Thebes, she takes it and marries him just two months after her husband’s death.
The two main POV characters are Jocasta herself and Ismene, Jocasta and Oedipus’ younger daughter. Ismene’s POV takes place ten years after the death of both of her parents and during the games during the reign of her two brothers, the current kings of Thebes. We get a lot of glimpses into the life of Ancient Thebes through her eyes, particularly in relation to subtle court politics and sports. Jocasta, on the other hand, has a different kind of interiority, focusing mostly on her loss of her first son while married to her first husband and her new marriage to Oedpius.
I would call this a historical fantasy because it’s based on a Greek myth and uses these mythological characters, but there aren’t a lot of fantasy elements. The only truly fantastical element is the mentions of the Oracle of Delphi but that doesn’t necessarily mean Apollo exists or that the prophecies are accurate. The Oracle of Delphi did actually exist, so if someone were to read this and say it’s a historical and not a historical fantasy, I would find it difficult to argue with them. If a reader is looking for not only a character-driven retelling of one of the most famous Greek myths focused on mortals but one that is incredibly grounded in the setting and the gods may or may not exist and how reality can become myth, this book might satisfy exactly what they are looking for.
What I thought was really interesting was the different relationships shown on the page and the highlighting of sibling relationships in particular. Ismene is focused on her sister, Antigone, and her two brothers, with Antigone as her strongest relationship. There probably isn’t a single chapter from Ismene’s POV that doesn’t at least mention her sister. Jocasta’s younger brother, Creon, is worried around her marriage to Oedipus and has concerns in his own marriage, but as he was quite young when Jocasta was married the first time and Oedipus doesn’t care for him, there’s not much Creon can really do for his sister except be a listening ear when she needs it even if she tries to use him as counsel, but he does have some plans of his own.
I would recommend this to fans of Greek myth retellings that are more grounded in history and have less fantastical elements, readers looking for an Oedipus retelling that talks about the incestuous themes but instead focuses on the logistical improbability of Oedipus being Jocasta’s child, and those looking for an Ancient Greece-set family drama
