A review by ashhollow
Elektra by Jennifer Saint

2.25

Probably best for people completely new to the House of Atreus' story. If you've already read the plays and epics this book compiles, I don't know that this book really adds much. You could argue that it places the women in the centre, but Aeschylus and Sophocles already do that in Agamemnon and Elektra. Saint's prose is easy but uninspiring, and her characterisation falls flat in multiple instances, most annoyingly with Elektra, who is downright unlikable in this despite being the most compelling character in the original tragedy to me. Even Agamemnon's villainy feels shallow and one-note, so it becomes even harder to connect to Elektra's grief over him. Clytemnestra's sections are easily the most interesting part of the book. There's this one glimmer of an inspired moment in which Saint describes Clytemnestra seeing her lover's skull under his skin, recognising in him the same state of being a dead thing walking that she endures, which I found so beautiful. Unfortunately (for me, I recognise this as a complaint based in taste) the prose mostly backs away from any moment like it, choosing readability over adornment.