The Voyage Home by Pat Barker

February 9, 2025

The Voyage Home by Pat Barker

The wind has finally shifted and the Greek army is sailing for home, along with the enslaved Trojan women who are their war prizes. Agamemnon arrives home with his concubine, the Trojan princess Cassandra, thinking his life is going back to the way it was before he left ten years earlier. But Agamemnon murdered his oldest daughter Iphigeneia, and his wife Clytemnestra has been planning her revenge for ten years.

The last book in Barker's trilogy about the women of Troy, victims of the Trojan War who are enslaved and awarded to the victors as war prizes. I loved the whole trilogy and while I liked Ritsa's character and story, it was disappointing that there was barely a mention of Briseis who narrated the first two books. Will appeal to readers who enjoyed Madeline Miller's Circe or Costanza Casati's Clytemnestra.

Depiction of a palace in Ancient Greece

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

December 28, 2024

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

After Achilles' death, his former war prize Briseis is now married to one of Achilles' lieutenants to protect her and Achilles' unborn child. Her husband is now lieutenant to Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. With the war over, the Greek army waits for a suitable wind to sail for home, only three days away, but they are stuck there waiting for the will of the gods to favor them.

The second book in Barker's Women of Troy trilogy begins inside the infamous Trojan Horse, in the voice of Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus is kind of a jerk, but you feel sorry for him as well - there is no way he can live up to his hero father's image. When you hear about the Trojan Horse, you don't think about a bunch of big hot sweaty men stuck inside for hours with no bathroom facilities and no ventilation (nasty). All of the main characters here are only names mentioned in the Ilian (Hecuba, Cassandra, Briseis) because they are women and therefore beneath notice. When someone in the camp commits a forbidden act, the Greek soldiers are sure it was one of the two Trojan men in the camp. There are hundreds of Trojan women, but they are totally discounted, the way royalty and aristocrats treat their servants, like they are part of the furniture. Looking forward to the third book in the trilogy. Recommended for readers of historical fiction and mythology.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

December 23, 2024

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Before the city of Troy fell, the invading Greek army destroyed the cities on the Trojan plain, killing the men and boys and taking the girls and women as slaves. The wife of a high ranking noble, Briseis was given to the warrior Achilles as a war prize. Achilles treats her kindly if indifferently, but his close friend and charioteer Patroclus becomes a friend to Briseis.

The story of the Trojan War is usually told by the men who were the victors: Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemmon, Menelaus. Rarely are the voices of the losing side heard, and almost never the women. This is the first book in Barker's trilogy about the women and girls who were the real victims, forced into slavery or prostitution by the conquering Greeks. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction and mythology. Also recommended are The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati.

Ruins believed to be part of ancient Troy