Sappho's Leap is a journey back 2,600 years to inhabit the mind of the greatest love poet the world has ever known. At the age of fourteen, Sappho is seduced by the beautiful poet Alcaeus, plots with him to overthrow the dictator of their island, and is caught and married off to a repellent older man in hopes that matrimony will keep her out of trouble. Instead, it starts her off on a series of amorous adventures with both men and women, taking her from Delphi to Egypt, and even to the Land of the Amazons and the shadowy realm of Hades. Erica Jongalways our keenest-eyed chronicler of the wonders and vagaries of sex and lovehas found the perfect subject for a witty and sensuous tale of a passionate woman ahead of her time. A generation of readers who have been moved to laughter and recognition by Jong's heroines will be enchanted anew by her re-creation of the immortal poet.
Erica Jong is the author of eight novels-including Fear of Flying-six books of poetry, and several works of nonfiction. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.
What a romp, what fun, what good sex, what a pleasure it is to read Sappho. Who would think that the distant dim classical world could be transformed into such a startling adventure...?
Anne Roiphe
If Odysseus had been a woman, this is the journey he might have taken.
Susan Cheever