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In the aftermath of the Trojan war, old feuds and new ambitions are brought into play in this mesmerising follow-up to the bestselling The Silence of the Girls.
Following her bestselling, critically acclaimed The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker continues her extraordinary retelling of one of our greatest myths.
Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won their bitter war. They can return home victors, loaded with their spoils: their stolen gold, stolen weapons, stolen women. All they need is a good wind to lift their sails.
But the wind does not come. The gods have been offended - the body of Priam lies desecrated, unburied - and so the victors remain in limbo, camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed, pacing at the edge of an unobliging sea. And, in these empty, restless days, the hierarchies that held them together begin to fray, old feuds resurface and new suspicions fester.
Largely unnoticed by her squabbling captors, Briseis remains in the Greek encampment. She forges alliances where she can - with young, dangerously naive Amina, with defiant, aged Hecuba, with Calchus, the disgraced priest - and begins to see the path to a kind of revenge. Briseis has survived the Trojan War, but peacetime may turn out to be even more dangerous...
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241988336
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 230 g
Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 20 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
In a novel filled with names from legend, Briseis stands tall as a heroine: brave, smart and loyal. Barker's latest is a wonder. - Publisher's Weekly
This continuation of the Trojan woman's story feels like another victory for every person who was silenced by history, their story stolen from them - Refinery 29
A stirring adventure set amid a misogynist dystopia - Anthony Cummins, The Observer
Barker is at her best when she evokes Hecuba's grief on the shore, surrounded by a group of female slaves with the ruined city behind them... - TLS
As a novelist, Barker has always looked on the world with the combination of a cold eye and a sympathetic understanding. Her characterisation is sharp, her sympathy deep. She extends it even to the often brutal men.Her overall achievement is to have taken one of the great myths of European history, something that has permeated Western culture for 3,000 years, and made something new and immediate of it. - i
This is a powerful page-turner, bringing ancient characters and stories into full colour. Skip Homer, and just enjoy this epic read - Daily Express
Briseis . . . returns again in this rich, readable sequel . . . Barker brings to life the mythical Trojan women. - New Statesman
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“Chilling, powerful retelling continues.”
The mighty Troy is finally defeated by trickery and King Priam is slated by the son of Achilles. Now, that the war is over, the Greeks reap their glory with their spoils, gold, weapons and enslaved women.
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“His father's son”
Pat Barker’s second Trojan War novel begins inside the Wooden Horse as the Greeks wait to see if Odysseus’ trick will work and The Trojans will transport the Horse within their walls. This is an effective scene with... More
“Wonderful sequel reimagining fall of Troy”
*I received a free copy of this novel to review from Net Galley*
Pat Barker shows again why she’s a master of writing about trauma in this beautifully written novel. A sequel to the Silence of the Girls, the Women of...
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