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dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A strong continuation of "The Silence of the Girls," Barker delivers another powerfully evocative tale of female struggle and survival. This is not the fever pitch of war, or the challenge of two sides clashing. It is the aftermath of a victory that is strung out until sour.
In stark contrast to the previous book, Briseis finds herself in a safer position with more freedoms than many of her fellow Trojans, and through this we see the power dynamics between these captive women, divided and together at once.
Briseis' struggle to protect the other women against their captors with what little cards she holds is compelling and powerful. This protection is violently juxtaposed by the irrelevance of many of the women's thoughts, feelings, or presence in the eyes of their captors. This is reflected again in the difference between the soft but fierce chapters from Briseis' perspective and the chaotic and insecure chapters from Pyrrhus.
I cannot overstate how evocative Barker's sensory language is. You can feel the grit of the sand between your toes, the mud under your fingernails, smell the sweat and dirt of the women's hut, see the soaring sea eagles over the waves. It is this, and the inner turmoil of Briseis hating and caring about her captors and fellow captives that makes the pages jump to life. Barker lays their experience bare in a masterful, well researched fiction.
In stark contrast to the previous book, Briseis finds herself in a safer position with more freedoms than many of her fellow Trojans, and through this we see the power dynamics between these captive women, divided and together at once.
Briseis' struggle to protect the other women against their captors with what little cards she holds is compelling and powerful. This protection is violently juxtaposed by the irrelevance of many of the women's thoughts, feelings, or presence in the eyes of their captors. This is reflected again in the difference between the soft but fierce chapters from Briseis' perspective and the chaotic and insecure chapters from Pyrrhus.
I cannot overstate how evocative Barker's sensory language is. You can feel the grit of the sand between your toes, the mud under your fingernails, smell the sweat and dirt of the women's hut, see the soaring sea eagles over the waves. It is this, and the inner turmoil of Briseis hating and caring about her captors and fellow captives that makes the pages jump to life. Barker lays their experience bare in a masterful, well researched fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder
Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book. This bloody book. I cried constantly the last few chapters. When they finally buried Priam, and his wife was finally allowed to mourn her husband…I *balled* my eyes out.
Like the first book in this series, it broke me to pieces and then put me back together by the end. I have no doubt the final book in the series will be the same.
Like the first book in this series, it broke me to pieces and then put me back together by the end. I have no doubt the final book in the series will be the same.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think this is an improvement from the first book, a good exploration of grief and the effects of war on those with little or no power. I especially liked the inclusion of lesser-known details from the Trojan cycle and how xenia featured heavily as a plot point. However, I still believe that the inclusion of male POVs was unnecessary and took away from the focus on the WOMEN of Troy - for example we could’ve seen how pathetic and sad Pyrrhus is just from Briseis observing him, we didn’t need several chapters from his POV telling us that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War
Moderate: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Torture
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence
Minor: Death, War
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
[Fair warning: This review contains some (major) spoilers that I will tag as such.]
After years of war, Troy finally falls. But although he killed Troy’s king, Priam, Achilles’ son Pyrrhus is not happy, always feeling like he is in the shadow of his dead father. And when there are no favorable winds for them to get home, the rest of the Greek army starts to get restless, too. Meanwhile, Briseis works her way through the camp, visiting as many of the Trojan noble women as she can and trying to befriend the girls in Pyrrhus’ quarters …
While I think that The Silence Of The Girls is slightly better than The Women Of Troy, this book is more fascinating than the first one.
Part of that is that it simply feels more independent and different from what other retellings make out of the time between Troy’s fall and the army’s journey home. The reason for that is probably the fact that this book is not about the events of the Iliad, which is arguably the most famous piece of literature about the Trojan War. Instead, it focuses on a period of time that often gets glossed over or summarized, and makes that the entire plot. That makes it somehow feel more original than the first book, at least to me.
Once again, the descriptions are brutally – and sometimes disgustingly – blunt. For the most part, they do not romanticize or trivialize the unpleasant aspects of war and a camp full of angry, restless men. I do think that Briseis’ confidence in going out with just one girl as protection, or even going out alone, is … a choice. But then again, that may just be who she is, as a former queen probably used to people treating her with a certain respect regardless of the situation. I would think that the weeks she had spent in the camp should have given her reason enough to rethink that stance, but it is also hard to change the self-image.
There are some interesting thoughts that get discussed or at least brought up, just like in the first book. It is fascinating to see explicitly feminist statements said out loud by a character in a Greek mythology retelling. But I think it is fitting, somehow. For example, Briseis thinks that Helen should not be blamed for the deeds of men – and while I would obviously agree, I am not too sure that this sentiment fits the moral code of the Iliad’s characters. But it still makes sense for Pat Barker’s Briseis to think that way, since she was friends with Helen once. There is an interesting mix between feminist views and alternative explanations for those perspectives.
In addition, there are – again – some interesting dynamics between characters. It is almost a little sad that these mostly apply to male characters. While the relationships between Briseis and the other women are not exactly all interchangeable with each other, since each does have something unique to it, they still feel less fleshed out. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the familiarity between Alcimus and Automedon, two characters that stayed a little pale in The Silence Of The Girls, but are much more tangible in The Women Of Troy. Even more interesting is the take on Pyrrhus and Helenus. I do not think that I have ever read anything about them becoming friends anywhere (which does not mean anything, since there are many (ancient) texts that I have never read), and that is certainly a surprising, yet interesting development. I hope to see more of their friendship in the third installment of this series.
Regardless of these very positive aspects, I still think it is a worse book than The Silence Of The Girls.
In fact, I even thought at one point that it almost felt like there had not been a plan to make a sequel – let alone two – to the first book originally. It is a little strange to me that the second book begins with events that were already summarized in the end of the first book. It just feels chaotic.
I also have a problem with the writing style – especially the repetitiveness of certain phrases – again. There are some instances (like Hecuba talking about Cassandra’s prophecies and whether or not she believes that they are real) that use a very specific way of phrasing certain sentiments so that they are either repeated word for word or at least close enough that it feels like the exact same phrase. To me, that just reads as if one scene mistakenly made it into the book in two places instead of one, simply because the author forgot that it had already found its place earlier and wrote it a second time.
Last, but not least, I am a little taken aback by the names of the horses. Rufus is a Latin word, so it should not be the name of Pyrrhus’ first pony, especially not because of its meaning. The relevant language should have much rather been Ancient Greek (which, coincidentally, would have presented very cool options like Phoinix) – using Latin instead feels an awful lot like a dismissal of the fact that these languages are, in fact, not the same, and that the story of the Trojan War would be set in a time when Rome and Romans were not even a thing yet. Likewise, if one of the horses gets a Latin name, I do not think another one should be named Ebony. Honestly, I think that horse in particular should have simply been named after one of the known real horses that were part of the winning teams in horse races – like Pherenikos, which literally means »victory bringer«.
Overall, I do have my problems with this book, but I enjoyed seeing where the story went, I liked many aspects of it and I am curious to see how the third part of this series will turn out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, War
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5
Was it a one time wonder?
In the first book (and I'll assume that if you are reading a review about the second book in a series you have read the first and don't mind spoilers- if you haven't, well that's on you my darling) Barker does something I personally found truly remarkable, something that has arguably not been done to this extent before in any popular Greek myth retelling. Barker tells us: have you ever considered that Achilles, outside of his battle prowess, was an asshole mass murderer rapist selfish prick? Have you? I for sure had never thought about it until I had picked up The Silence of the Girls. And because she made me see, I loved that book.
While without doubt this sequel continues showing us the other side of coin, the more pragmatic and realistic side of the story if you want, it doesn't feel new anymore. The Greek heroes are insecure misogynistic pricks and it's no secret anymore. Rationally, it makes sense that the sequel, not being new, doesn't feel new. Yet I hoped she would still find a bit of novelty somewhere and I did wonder at the beginning what she would make me realise in this one. Turns out, nothing much. I shouldn't hold her to that honestly, she doesn't owe me new but I had some expectations (self made) that were just not met.
Notwithstanding, this book is still full of gut-wrenching moments, like when Briseis takes care of Andromache after her rape. I couldn't help making the association with the stark realisation we might experience as women (and as humans) that we do know that horrible things are happening all around us right now, sometimes things we have experienced ourselves in the past and we know that there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop those things from happening, if not try to wash the wounds afterwards or push the thoughts away before we drown in them.
The story also reiterated what the first book did. The sad realisation that it's a man's world and that when it comes down to women's bodies we are the weak ones and easily overpowered. I think the author on this does the right thing, she's not coming out with daredevil plans and last minutes saving graces for these women. And that is painfully real, there is no safety for some of us, but if our bodies are at the mercy of men, our minds don't have to. And here is where Barker's shines, in telling us stories of women with unconquered minds.
I remained lukewarm toward Briseis overall, finding her at times petty, like all the time she gets angry with Cassandra and judges her all types of unfriendly and cold while to me Cassandra seemed just like someone else who is trying to survive and actually demonstrates kindnesses toward other women despite Briseis complains on her behaviour. On the other side, I respected Briseis wisdom; she was quick to predict how men's actions when feeling ashamed would likely turn out and she took the right steps to prevent harm as much as possible. I don't know about changing the pov from Briseis to Cassandra for the last book but I do have hopes that it will actually work best for me; after all, I'm definitely here to see the cold revenge being finally served.
*quick FYI: I have a booktube channel! You can find me at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKINi_gWxRVjojxMeKtKi1Q*
Was it a one time wonder?
In the first book (and I'll assume that if you are reading a review about the second book in a series you have read the first and don't mind spoilers- if you haven't, well that's on you my darling) Barker does something I personally found truly remarkable, something that has arguably not been done to this extent before in any popular Greek myth retelling. Barker tells us: have you ever considered that Achilles, outside of his battle prowess, was an asshole mass murderer rapist selfish prick? Have you? I for sure had never thought about it until I had picked up The Silence of the Girls. And because she made me see, I loved that book.
While without doubt this sequel continues showing us the other side of coin, the more pragmatic and realistic side of the story if you want, it doesn't feel new anymore. The Greek heroes are insecure misogynistic pricks and it's no secret anymore. Rationally, it makes sense that the sequel, not being new, doesn't feel new. Yet I hoped she would still find a bit of novelty somewhere and I did wonder at the beginning what she would make me realise in this one. Turns out, nothing much. I shouldn't hold her to that honestly, she doesn't owe me new but I had some expectations (self made) that were just not met.
Notwithstanding, this book is still full of gut-wrenching moments, like when Briseis takes care of Andromache after her rape. I couldn't help making the association with the stark realisation we might experience as women (and as humans) that we do know that horrible things are happening all around us right now, sometimes things we have experienced ourselves in the past and we know that there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop those things from happening, if not try to wash the wounds afterwards or push the thoughts away before we drown in them.
The story also reiterated what the first book did. The sad realisation that it's a man's world and that when it comes down to women's bodies we are the weak ones and easily overpowered. I think the author on this does the right thing, she's not coming out with daredevil plans and last minutes saving graces for these women. And that is painfully real, there is no safety for some of us, but if our bodies are at the mercy of men, our minds don't have to. And here is where Barker's shines, in telling us stories of women with unconquered minds.
I remained lukewarm toward Briseis overall, finding her at times petty, like all the time she gets angry with Cassandra and judges her all types of unfriendly and cold while to me Cassandra seemed just like someone else who is trying to survive and actually demonstrates kindnesses toward other women despite Briseis complains on her behaviour. On the other side, I respected Briseis wisdom; she was quick to predict how men's actions when feeling ashamed would likely turn out and she took the right steps to prevent harm as much as possible. I don't know about changing the pov from Briseis to Cassandra for the last book but I do have hopes that it will actually work best for me; after all, I'm definitely here to see the cold revenge being finally served.
*quick FYI: I have a booktube channel! You can find me at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKINi_gWxRVjojxMeKtKi1Q*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape, Violence
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this an odd and desolate book. I understand that it was a post war time of uncertainty and grief but it felt very barren. I really REALLY struggled with the modern tone of voice and vocabulary, it was jarring. It felt like a cop out in not bothering to adhere to historical accuracy. The only interesting aspect was the explanation of the term Myrmidons as “ant men” - if it did more of this, I would’ve been more engaged and absorbed. In truth it didn’t feel Greek even though it sought to be accurate in its depiction of events, actions, beliefs and values of the time. So why not make the language appropriate? This was what devalued and reduced the impact of the book for me. However I would be curious to read The Silence of the Girls which seems highly regarded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, War
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
an immersive read. The stories are beautifully told and woven together, every character has distinct yet understandable motivations. The main perspective is Briseis but Pyrrhus' description of grief and immaturity is unfortunately compelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment