Medea Sang Me A Corrido

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.

‘Each story reads like a myth spoken aloud — rhythmic, propulsive, and filled with musical references. De la Cerda’s colloquial style, beautifully captured in translation, brings to vivid life the suffering of her characters. The innovative, cleverly structured result is a tragic collection shot through with joy.’

‘This book genuinely blew me away. I went into it not knowing much about what it covered, but by the end, my arm hairs were standing on end … This book made me shudder because it’s heartbreaking and blends politics with the darkest humour, and it gives a voice to women who are far too often overlooked. Dahlia did not come to play when she wrote this.’

‘De la Cerda creates a sense of pace and peril in a way that resembles Bolano’s The Savage Detectives more than it does 2666. It’s largely composed in a vernacular that obeys rules of spoken rather than written language, and thrums with immediacy as it engages with and subverts patriarchal culture. Anyone interested in Mexican literature should be drawn to this one.’ FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK

‘Only a novel this inventive and insane could help me understand the complexities of modern Mexico and capture every horror of womanhood. Propulsive and poetic. As sick as it is sexy and as feral as it is tender. I couldn’t put it down.’

‘One of the most promising voices in recent Mexican literature.’

‘Once again, de la Cerda has given us a collection of stories that is of devastating impact, one whose power slowly grows with each new voice that joins the chorus until the collective coalesces into a passage that absolutely takes you out at the kneecaps. This is a book rich with lineage and allusion, yet it is never quite so powerful as when it is reckoning with the simple cataclysm of a life cut short.’

‘A furious, dazzling collection of interlinked stories set in northern Mexico … [De la Cerda] writes with grit, speed, and political fire.’

Praise for Reservoir Bitches:

‘Reservoir Bitches is a blisteringly urgent collection of interconnected stories about contemporary Mexican women. It absolutely bangs from the first page to the last. It’s extremely funny but deadly serious and we loved the energy and flair of the dual translators’ approach. It packs an enormous political and linguistic punch but is also subtle, revelatory, and moving about the wa