Reviews

The female Troy... readable literary version for a MeToo world.

There have been many versions/rewrites of classic stories over the years, the Penelopiad and The Song of Achilles just two of this one particular epic. Never will a female account feel more relevant.

In an account of armies of men fighting over a woman, "a girl really. A girl stolen from her father. A girl abducted in a war," with female prisoners of war taken and 'distributed' among the victors, we watch the deeds of Achilles and Patroclus, Agamemnon and Hector through the eyes of a Queen of a sacked city, taken into slavery and presented to Achilles as his prize.

Briseis shows us the side of ancient history we have not been given insight into - the women did not write chronicles, did not figure in important activities, have never been given a voice in history.

Having read The Iliad, as well as the versions above, I found this the most readable of the lot. It doesn't sugarcoat the more unpleasant aspects of being taken as a prisoner of war - the subjugation, rape, starvation, violence against the women, all whilst grieving for murdered loved ones. Barker also doesn't place any of the traditional heroes on a pedestal - Achilles has more than the one reputed weakness, and we see the men in all their sweaty, realistic glory.
"They're the warriors, with their helmets and armour, their swords and spears, and they don't seem to see our battles - of they prefer not to."

Briseis talks to us about her world, changed from palace to kept bed-girl, a trophy who must "spread my legs for the man who killed my husband and my brothers." It's horrific when you see it in this light. The story of Troy has never included these details.

We still get to see the story of Troy that we know, that of Hector, of Achilles the hero, of his best friend and confidante Patroclus, but without the rose tint. War is brutal, the men controlling it brutal in the heat of it.

I enjoyed the feel of time and place that Barker presented, and also the low-lying eroticism in Achilles' scenes with both Briseis and Patroclus, with relationships developing slowly through the book. And Briseis is a fighter, an observer, a survivor. We are allowed through her to see the other ignored, unexceptional females in the Greek camp and understand through the snippets of camp life we see know what life was like for the half of the population seen as little more than material goods.

For anyway who knows the story, the ending won't be much of a surprise, but the way Barker writes the segment was impressive, giving the 'bigger' story very little page space and detail, after all "his story... ends at his grave" and for those not there to witness it, what can be said? It was rather refreshing not to have a big battle scene, though I did wonder about the lack of mention of the Trojan Horse, especially as one scene mentions a toy that I thought might signify a plan to come - is the Horse a fabrication then of how the Trojan War ended?

An excellent insight into women's history, the history that was never recorded. Famous events as those watching from the sidelines saw them, and the background stories they might have lived and fought themselves.

My first Pat Barker, and not my last.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

sisala's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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