'Women of Troy' by Pat Barker

FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Plot Overview:

We all know the story of the Greek army that sacked Troy.

But what of the women?

Briseis, Helen, Maire, Helle, Cassandra, Hecuba, Andromache, Amina.

Their stories did not end when Achilles died. They did not end when their city ended.

What happens after the last page?

Review:

I cannot deny Barker’s gift for storytelling, nor can I deny the historical accuracy of this novel.

I just felt that it lacked a streamlined beginning, middle and end.

Was it atmospheric? Yes. Was it brutally powerful? Yes. But I could not map out a list of event, which gave the novel a wishy-washy feeling.

Additionally, Barker often explains Briseis’ thoughts to us instead of showing them. Just because she is a first person protagonist, she doesn’t have to be stripped back so much.

It did not standalone in comparison to ‘The Silence of the Girls’, and I actually felt that it needed to be longer. Barker ends the novel as the Greeks prepare to leave Troy; what happens to our characters after this is never explained, only cryptically alluded to by our protagonist, Briseis. The series almost needs a third instalment.

My Favourite Quotations:

• “The crux was that Alcimus believed –or rather assumed – that I’d loved Achilles, and still loved him. He certainly wasn’t alone in that belief. Then – and now – people seem to take it for granted that I loved Achilles. Why wouldn’t I? I had the fastest, strongest, bravest, most beautiful man of his generation in my bed –how could I not love him? // He killed my brothers. // We women are peculiar creatures. We tend not to love those who murder our families.”

• “So, what did I feel for this baby whose father had killed my husband and my brothers and burned my city down? I felt it wasn’t mine. At times, it seemed more like a parasitic infestation than a pregnancy, taking me over, using me for its own purposes –which were their purposes. Kill all the men and boys, impregnate the women –and the Trojans cease to exist.”

• “At the funeral, in front of the entire Greek army, she would represent Priam. More than that: she would be Priam. Because isn’t that, ultimately, the way we cope with grief? There’s nothing sophisticated or civilised about it. Like savages, we ingest our dead.”

Review Written on 21/09/2021

Book Discovery: Given to me as a birthday