Cassandra : a novel and four essays / by Christa Wolf ; translated from the German by Jan van Heurck.

Originally published in German in two volumes under the titles Voraussetzungen einer Erzählung : Kassandra ; and, Kassandra, Erzählung.

In the tradition of such masterpieces of historical fiction as Mary Renault's The King Must Die, East German writer Christa Wolf movingly retells the story of the fall of Troy - but from the point of view of the woman whose visionary powers earned her contempt and scorn. Written as a result of the author's Greek travels and studies, Cassandra speaks to us in a pressing monologue whose inner focal points are patriarchy and war. In the four accompanying pieces, which take the form of travel reports, journal entries, and a letter, Wolf describes the novel's genesis. Incisive and intelligent, the entire volume represents an urgent call to examine the past in order to insure a future.