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A review by sapphicpenguin
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
4.0
SO much potential. A very present, hard story, that definitely captures the spirit of the Iliad as well as bringing you closer to the pain of women in war. I love the parallel of Helen and Briseis—I've always felt they occupy similar places in the narrative. Briseis's story is so unexplored, and it was so lovely to get her perspective. Quite enjoyed it, but did have some issues.
I didn't like some of the punctuation/format choices, and especially at the beginning a lot of the language felt cliche. After every mediocre sentence, though, was a paragraph that blew me away, so I couldn't dislike the writing.
My main issue was how much of the book—a first-person POV book, too!—didn't center Briseis. This book is from her perspective, marketed itself on being her story—and yet multiple chapters don't include her. It felt like the author just felt we would be too bored without some of Achilles's story as well—but doesn't that defeat the point? Of course that's the issue you run into—all the exciting bits of the Iliad happen with zero women present, that's the challenge of a retelling centering women. It just didn't feel like the author completely overcame the urge to just write a story about Achilles and Patroclus.
I didn't like some of the punctuation/format choices, and especially at the beginning a lot of the language felt cliche. After every mediocre sentence, though, was a paragraph that blew me away, so I couldn't dislike the writing.
My main issue was how much of the book—a first-person POV book, too!—didn't center Briseis. This book is from her perspective, marketed itself on being her story—and yet multiple chapters don't include her. It felt like the author just felt we would be too bored without some of Achilles's story as well—but doesn't that defeat the point? Of course that's the issue you run into—all the exciting bits of the Iliad happen with zero women present, that's the challenge of a retelling centering women. It just didn't feel like the author completely overcame the urge to just write a story about Achilles and Patroclus.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, Excrement, Physical abuse, War, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Self harm
Minor: Cannibalism, Infertility, and Miscarriage
The worst/most violent of the sexual assault is skipped over, but it is very present. The aftermath is discussed.