Author: Natalie Haynes
Pub Date: 26 Jan 2021
Publisher: Harper
Page Count: 368
Dates Read: Apr 20 – 23
Reading Method: Physical
Category: Adult Backlog
Review
This was an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking retelling of the Trojan War, focusing solely on the women and their stories. I loved that Haynes focused so heavily on the way the women were affected by the decisions of men we are so familiar with, and brought to life their struggles and the heavy sacrifices they had to make. The writing was lovely and the emotions and plight of the women felt so real. I wanted to live in this story a little longer and was sad to see it end.
About the Book
This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all….
In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.
From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.
About the Author
Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster and – according to the Washington Post – a rock star mythologist. Her first novel, The Amber Fury, was published to great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, as was The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, her previous book. Her second novel, The Children of Jocasta, was published in 2017. Her retelling of the Trojan War, A Thousand Ships, was published in 2019. It was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020. It has been translated into multiple languages. Her most recent non-fiction book, Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myth was published in Oct 2020, and Margaret Atwood liked it.
