PRE-ORDER: Caly recommends... Medea Sang Me a Corrido - Dahlia de la Cerda

A crackling and mythic revival of Medea, exploring what it means to bring a child into a world so potently ravaged by violence. Through a medley of interconnected voices Dahlia de la Cerda interrogates the predatory nature of criminal organisations and militarised states with incredible wit and sincerity, questioning what it means to be a hero and the corrupt nature of legacy. A vivid, thrilling and tender glimpse into maternity, community and collective care in Northern Mexico. 

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A punk revival of Medea as a Mexican anti-angel of birth and death, from the International Booker Prize-nominated author of Reservoir Bitches. In Northern Mexico, Paulina, Perla, Antonia, Reina, and Jordan are striving to survive the barrio, hustling on the edge of a cartel-run economy, nursing the wounds made normal in a world that eats its own. Hovering over their trials is a spirit with gothic flair, dressed in black and crowned with braids: Medea, a mythic mother of the Chihuahuan desert, ancient as the Aztecs but never too old to be petty.

From aiding a trophy girlfriend’s abortion, to accompanying a mother in her search for her lost child in the desert, to embracing those taken too soon in the narco’s brutal proxy wars, Medea fights for justice for her chosen mortals — her divine wrath the only power that could rival the corrupt, violent web spun by the cartel, the government, and the military. Dahlia de la Cerda’s magnetic prose draws readers right into the heart of that web and links all our fates to the missions of Medea, equal parts midwife and gravedigger, a femme fatale god in a femicidal world.