The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

The Women of Troy: A Novel

August 30, 2021

troy

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
Published by Doubleday
Publication date: August 24, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Historical
four-stars
Your Local Book Store, Amazon

Helen has always been the most well-known woman from the legend of Troy, but author Pat Barker brings to life another woman who, through no will of her own, played a role even more critical to the Trojan War mythology. Briseis.  The queen of a city sacked by Achilles when the war first began, she was given to him as a war prize to be his concubine. Barker’s last novel, The Silence of the Girls, follows Breseis’ life in the camps amongst the other captured women. Also, one of the most defining moments of the war—when King Agamemnon forced Achilles to give him Briseis. In retaliation, Achilles and his fearsome tribe of warriors withdrew from the fighting and the tide turned against the Greeks. Only when Briseis was returned to him did the fearsome Achilles fight again and the tide turned.

Now, Barker is back with The Women of Troy. Years have passed, the war has ended, Achilles is dead, and Briseis is pregnant with his child. Before his last battle Achilles gave Briseis to Alcimus, a trusted general, to prevent her being auctioned off with his other possessions. She lives in comparative safety and comfort within in the camps, but is now joined by the Trojan spoils of war, its women. There is Queen Hecuba, the reviled Helen, Cassandra, and the handmaiden Amima. Hanging over their trauma and enslavement are two larger issues. One, Achilles son, Pyrrhus killed King Priam, but has desecrated his corpse by refusing to allow its burial.  Two, the winds the Greeks need to launch their ships home have turned against them, blowing inland.

Barker uses this scenario to great effect. On the surface The Women of Troy is clearly about victims and victors. The grieving Hecuba knowing her husband’s body has not been buried; Cassandra, the doomed psychic, knowing her marriage to a Greek king will end in her death; and even the reviled Helen, returned to her husband to be beaten and raped nightly. All played off against the victors, who have destroyed Troy, massacred all the males, destroyed its temples, and looted its famed wealth. But underneath the victory is the grim truth that the victors are trapped, unable to leave. Viewed as being of no value and unworthy of notice the victimized women find their own ways to restore honor to their culture and extract some small measure of retribution.

I love how Barker pokes at the traditional interpretations of the Trojan War. Without abandoning the original story, she pulls out ‘insignificant’ details, revealing a truer picture. And not just regarding women. Pyrrhus’ behavior may have been abominable, but he was a 16-year-old boy, not a man. It’s this kind of probing that moves The Women of Troy off the shelf of dry, classical reading and into the realm of engrossing entertainment.

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

*I received a free copy of this book from Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.*

 

four-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4 Star Books
  • By Pat Barker
silence
The Silence of the Girls
map
The Map of Salt and Stars
ariadne
Ariadne: A Novel by Jennifer Saint
best
Best Books of 2018
winter
Winter 2021 Books I’m Ready to Read
ambassador's wife
The Ambassador’s Wife
age
The Age of Miracles
majesty
Majesty: A Novel by Katharine McGee
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: A Novel
shore
The Shore: A Novel by Sara Taylor
thirteen
Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh
library checkout
August Library Checkout
beartown
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
sugarhouse
Sugarhouse: Turning the Neighborhood Crack House into Our Home Sweet Home
trouble
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
silence
The Silence of the Girls

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: mythology

Comments

  1. Kristin says

    August 30, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    A third Greek mythology of women book in 2021! Comparisons?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 4, 2021 at 2:26 pm

      Good question! A Thousand Ships still stands as my favorite for its complexity and the span of its story, but this is a strong second. It is focused solely on the Trojan women, whereas A Thousand Ships delved into the Greek women and the goddesses as well. All great reading in my mind!

      Reply
      • Kristin says

        September 5, 2021 at 6:43 pm

        Good to know! I just finished A Thousand Ships recently and did enjoy it (4*). I rated Circe 3*. I’ll see if I get to The Women of Troy.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in