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jmodef's review against another edition
5.0
Told from the point of view of Trojan women without the patriarchal condemnation usually attributed to ancient tales. A poignant telling of survival, bravery, defiance during the spoils of war.
felicitassturm's review against another edition
3.75
Anfangs war ich noch ziemlich überfordert mit den ganzen Charakteren. Alcimus, Automedon, Amina, Andromache. Hecuba, Helen, Helle, Helenus. Wie soll man da noch durchblicken? Nachdem ich aber gefühlt alle Wikipediaeinträge der Figuren des trojanischen Kriegs durchgelesen hatte, wurde es besser. Außerdem wurde die Handlung dichter und spannender, die Konflikte greifbarer. Mit der Zeit verstand ich auch die Rolle und den Status von Briseis immer mehr. Es war spannend, wie Pat Barker immer wieder durch vermeintliche Kleinigkeiten spürbar machte, wie das Leben von Frauen und insbesondere auch von Sklavinnen aussah.
Auch die Auflösung, wie die Griechen Troja dann doch endlich verlassen konnten, war spannend gemacht. Als Leserin hat man eine Vermutung, was letztendlich den Zorn der Götter besanftigt hat. Auch wenn es ganz anders dargestellt wurde.
Letztendlich eine interessante Erzählung über das Ende des trojanischen Krieges aus Sicht der Betroffenen Frauen.
Auch die Auflösung, wie die Griechen Troja dann doch endlich verlassen konnten, war spannend gemacht. Als Leserin hat man eine Vermutung, was letztendlich den Zorn der Götter besanftigt hat. Auch wenn es ganz anders dargestellt wurde.
Letztendlich eine interessante Erzählung über das Ende des trojanischen Krieges aus Sicht der Betroffenen Frauen.
bellexroses's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
cassidyserhienko's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
“We women are peculiar creatures. We tend not to love those who murder our families.”
This is one of the books that I received for Christmas (from my own list) and my first read of 2022 but what I did not realize is that it’s a sequel because I… am stupid? The Women of Troy takes place directly after the fall of the city when the Greek forces find themselves stranded as they wait for the winds to clear to sail. It centres around Briseis, a Trojan woman who was given as a prize of honour to Achilles and was kept as a slave during the war. Anyone familiar with Achilles will know that he died before the war was won, and so Briseis now finds herself married to a Greek commander and carrying Achilles’ child. She does her best to help the other Trojan women who are kept and abused by the Greek fighters and Kings.
If I hadn’t looked it up I doubt I would have even realized that this was actually a sequel, I didn’t feel like I was playing catch-up on anything and I didn’t feel confused about the politics and structure of the camp. I’m sure that the first book would have given me a more nuanced understanding of the complicated relationship between Briseis and Achilles, as this was only touched on in this one but I don’t think it impeded my enjoyment or comprehension of the story.
It’s definitely a quiet novel, not in that it’s boring but there’s just not a lot of big action. It’s more about the manipulations and behind the scenes machinations that the women have to navigate to survive. The story is obviously at its core about women, and I liked the inclusion of characters like Helen and Cassandra. Even as they’re victims of their own circumstances doing what they must to survive, they’re still villains in their own right. Cassandra takes her own anger out on Ritsa and Helen mocks Andromache for no reason other than that she can. I was surprised that there wasn’t more camaraderie among the women, but I think that this was a much more realistic story. Everyone had their own goals and was dealing with their own pain as they suffered the indignities that come with slavery - and marriage. The way that Briseis and the other women looked out for each other while still not knowing who to trust made the book feel gripping even when it seems like nothing of significance is happening.
Intermittently, Pyrrhus gets his own chapters. Briseis is clever and observant and she sees him (and everyone else) very clearly, but having these small glimpses into him both confirms what she sees and makes him a more complex character than she gives him credit for. His savagery and unpredictability is undeniable, but there’s still something pitiable about him even as he instigates horror after horror in the name of his own pride.
I definitely think that I’ll go back and read the first book because I love Greek mythology and I really enjoy these kinds of stories that discuss the experiences of characters/people that were simply overlooked in the classical canon.
“We women are peculiar creatures. We tend not to love those who murder our families.”
This is one of the books that I received for Christmas (from my own list) and my first read of 2022 but what I did not realize is that it’s a sequel because I… am stupid? The Women of Troy takes place directly after the fall of the city when the Greek forces find themselves stranded as they wait for the winds to clear to sail. It centres around Briseis, a Trojan woman who was given as a prize of honour to Achilles and was kept as a slave during the war. Anyone familiar with Achilles will know that he died before the war was won, and so Briseis now finds herself married to a Greek commander and carrying Achilles’ child. She does her best to help the other Trojan women who are kept and abused by the Greek fighters and Kings.
If I hadn’t looked it up I doubt I would have even realized that this was actually a sequel, I didn’t feel like I was playing catch-up on anything and I didn’t feel confused about the politics and structure of the camp. I’m sure that the first book would have given me a more nuanced understanding of the complicated relationship between Briseis and Achilles, as this was only touched on in this one but I don’t think it impeded my enjoyment or comprehension of the story.
It’s definitely a quiet novel, not in that it’s boring but there’s just not a lot of big action. It’s more about the manipulations and behind the scenes machinations that the women have to navigate to survive. The story is obviously at its core about women, and I liked the inclusion of characters like Helen and Cassandra. Even as they’re victims of their own circumstances doing what they must to survive, they’re still villains in their own right. Cassandra takes her own anger out on Ritsa and Helen mocks Andromache for no reason other than that she can. I was surprised that there wasn’t more camaraderie among the women, but I think that this was a much more realistic story. Everyone had their own goals and was dealing with their own pain as they suffered the indignities that come with slavery - and marriage. The way that Briseis and the other women looked out for each other while still not knowing who to trust made the book feel gripping even when it seems like nothing of significance is happening.
Intermittently, Pyrrhus gets his own chapters. Briseis is clever and observant and she sees him (and everyone else) very clearly, but having these small glimpses into him both confirms what she sees and makes him a more complex character than she gives him credit for. His savagery and unpredictability is undeniable, but there’s still something pitiable about him even as he instigates horror after horror in the name of his own pride.
I definitely think that I’ll go back and read the first book because I love Greek mythology and I really enjoy these kinds of stories that discuss the experiences of characters/people that were simply overlooked in the classical canon.
onanotherplanet's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
etherealangel's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jbash_lo_fi's review against another edition
4.0
A great follow up to The Silence of the Girls with another beautiful cover by Sarah Young - I immediately recognised it walking past a bookshop and bought it. I guess sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.
I love the many different interpretations that exist of the Illiad and the story of the Trojan War. Pat Barker's are among the best and I'd gladly read many more instalments if she wants to write them.
I love the many different interpretations that exist of the Illiad and the story of the Trojan War. Pat Barker's are among the best and I'd gladly read many more instalments if she wants to write them.
giannaitt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
erikariehigano22's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books that I never realised I was moving so fast while reading it. Barker's writing simply hypnotises you to follow through these characters and the events they endure.
The reviews on the book were right. No sugarcoating was evident in this book. The brutalities and grotesque nature of slavery and the normalisation of misogyny in Ancient Greek culture was something that readers should be very aware if it triggers them when reading this series. I cannot imagine how horrible Briseis must have felt in Book 1 when she was just given as a bride-prize to Achilles. One of the most profound scenes in the book that stuck to me is Amina and Briseis' confrontation in the abandoned gardens of Troy. None of the Greek fighters suspected any of the Trojan women into illegally burying Priam. Amina claimed that she was also Trojan. She and Briseis are Trojan. Yet because they were women, they were not considered of their status and were seen as less than human but only property.
This is a feminist retelling of the Trojan War that involved the women that were hurt, abused, and oppressed merely in an exchange of system when their patriarchal home society was destroyed. The camaderie that Briseis helped build among the Trojan women, now slaves of the Greek soldiers, was one of the most endearing aspects of this book. Though there was a flaw in this empowering narrative when majority of the women, to the exclusion of Briseis the narrator, blamed their suffering and predicament into Helen who was the scapegoat for the beginning of this war. The only chapter where Helen had dialogue and was focused on did emphasised that Helen merely did what she had to do only because of circumstances. She seemed arrogant to the other women or promiscuous to the men around her. But Helen manipulated her circumstances for survival. And for me, that was one of the most important aspects in this book. It did look like the women were pitting Helen against them, but no other woman was above the others. All of them suffered, all of them endured and no one was free from a life of liberty than the women in the Greek camp.
One thing that really bothered me with this book is the use of modern slang. I was put off when I read the word 'shit' in the narration. And it did not help that most of the characters, especially the men, used British slang in their dialogues. But I had to think back that perhaps Barker already established this during the first book, which I missed out and did not wait to read it first before this one, and that maybe it was her attempt to further connect with a modern audience who have no background on Greek Mythology nor reading outside modern English in general. So this criticism is not criticism at all, only merely pointing out some details that I merely wanted to point out.
Another interesting detail is how the book seemed to not hint of Achilles' romantic relationship with Patroclus. Again, this might have already been established in the first book already that I must have missed by opting to reading this book quickly under my possession without waiting for a library loan for the first book.
I also find it interesting that the book began with Pyrrhus' POV and focused a little bit on him, as well as the Trojan priest Calchus. Even though I was surprised since obviously they were not the characters referred in the book title, they did contribute to the plot by giving the readers another angle, from the perspective of men, of the people who benefitted in this patriarchal society. Pyrrhus, with all his teenage arrogance and hormonal tendencies, was under pressure to follow his father's footsteps or else he live under the scrutiny of those said footsteps if he chose to deviate from it. Calchus, who hid homosexual tendencies that was frowned upon, relied on the political position he had by maintaining his favour to Agamemnon for the sake of his survival until the Greeks depart from the land they wrecked havoc.
I do understand why this book was added as one of the recent additions as text analysis for VCE English in the Victorian curriculum. It is appropriate for Year 12 students in terms of content and Barker's writing is accessible for students to ponder the themes and meanings of the characters' endurance and determination to simply survive, as well as not holding back on the realities of war and its horrible consequences together with providing a close look into the lifestyle of Ancient Greece for women and for wider society in a small demographic.
Once I catch up with this year's Reading Challenge, I will loan the first and third book from my local library.
The reviews on the book were right. No sugarcoating was evident in this book. The brutalities and grotesque nature of slavery and the normalisation of misogyny in Ancient Greek culture was something that readers should be very aware if it triggers them when reading this series. I cannot imagine how horrible Briseis must have felt in Book 1 when she was just given as a bride-prize to Achilles. One of the most profound scenes in the book that stuck to me is Amina and Briseis' confrontation in the abandoned gardens of Troy. None of the Greek fighters suspected any of the Trojan women into illegally burying Priam. Amina claimed that she was also Trojan. She and Briseis are Trojan. Yet because they were women, they were not considered of their status and were seen as less than human but only property.
This is a feminist retelling of the Trojan War that involved the women that were hurt, abused, and oppressed merely in an exchange of system when their patriarchal home society was destroyed. The camaderie that Briseis helped build among the Trojan women, now slaves of the Greek soldiers, was one of the most endearing aspects of this book. Though there was a flaw in this empowering narrative when majority of the women, to the exclusion of Briseis the narrator, blamed their suffering and predicament into Helen who was the scapegoat for the beginning of this war. The only chapter where Helen had dialogue and was focused on did emphasised that Helen merely did what she had to do only because of circumstances. She seemed arrogant to the other women or promiscuous to the men around her. But Helen manipulated her circumstances for survival. And for me, that was one of the most important aspects in this book. It did look like the women were pitting Helen against them, but no other woman was above the others. All of them suffered, all of them endured and no one was free from a life of liberty than the women in the Greek camp.
One thing that really bothered me with this book is the use of modern slang. I was put off when I read the word 'shit' in the narration. And it did not help that most of the characters, especially the men, used British slang in their dialogues. But I had to think back that perhaps Barker already established this during the first book, which I missed out and did not wait to read it first before this one, and that maybe it was her attempt to further connect with a modern audience who have no background on Greek Mythology nor reading outside modern English in general. So this criticism is not criticism at all, only merely pointing out some details that I merely wanted to point out.
Another interesting detail is how the book seemed to not hint of Achilles' romantic relationship with Patroclus. Again, this might have already been established in the first book already that I must have missed by opting to reading this book quickly under my possession without waiting for a library loan for the first book.
I also find it interesting that the book began with Pyrrhus' POV and focused a little bit on him, as well as the Trojan priest Calchus. Even though I was surprised since obviously they were not the characters referred in the book title, they did contribute to the plot by giving the readers another angle, from the perspective of men, of the people who benefitted in this patriarchal society. Pyrrhus, with all his teenage arrogance and hormonal tendencies, was under pressure to follow his father's footsteps or else he live under the scrutiny of those said footsteps if he chose to deviate from it. Calchus, who hid homosexual tendencies that was frowned upon, relied on the political position he had by maintaining his favour to Agamemnon for the sake of his survival until the Greeks depart from the land they wrecked havoc.
I do understand why this book was added as one of the recent additions as text analysis for VCE English in the Victorian curriculum. It is appropriate for Year 12 students in terms of content and Barker's writing is accessible for students to ponder the themes and meanings of the characters' endurance and determination to simply survive, as well as not holding back on the realities of war and its horrible consequences together with providing a close look into the lifestyle of Ancient Greece for women and for wider society in a small demographic.
Once I catch up with this year's Reading Challenge, I will loan the first and third book from my local library.