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The Women of Troy
The Women of Troy: A Novel | Pat Barker
A daring and timely feminist retelling of The Iliad from the perspective of the women of Troy who endured it--an extraordinary follow up to The Silence of the Girls from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Regeneration Trilogy. "An important, powerful, memorable book."--Emily Wilson, translator of The Odyssey Troy has fallen and the victorious Greeks are eager to return home with the spoils of an endless war--including the women of Troy themselves. They await a fair wind for the Aegean. It does not come, because the gods are offended. The body of King Priam lies unburied and desecrated, and so the victors remain in suspension, camped in the shadows of the city they destroyed as the coalition that held them together begins to unravel. Old feuds resurface and new suspicions and rivalries begin to fester. Largely unnoticed by her captors, the one time Trojan queen Briseis, formerly Achilles's slave, now belonging to his companion Alcimus, quietly takes in these developments. She forges alliances when she can, with Priam's aged wife the defiant Hecuba and with the disgraced soothsayer Calchas, all the while shrewdly seeking her path to revenge.
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emmasm08
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Pickpick

Just finished the second in this Pat Barker trilogy ! And looking forward to the third - great books especially when I‘m reading them in Greece .

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jahnna
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thirteenth book of summer break

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Elena77
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Pickpick

I fell in love with this book slowly, I got used to the unpretentious, clean writing and I increasingly struggled to put it down. The easy writing, modest almost, goes along with the stories told by women who had to be quiet, ordered around, used and abused. I have wished for more descriptive parts, to enable the mind to see the sceneries, the sunrises, the sunsets, the hills, the shores, the indoors. This would have made the book richer for me.

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emmaturi
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Another great Greek mythology book, this time set in the Greek camp after the fall of Troy. Points of view from different women, but a lot from Briseis, who is pregnant by Achilles. I do love these retelling stories.

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emmaturi
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I am reading the tagged book and loving it. I plan to read the other books this month too.

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Cathy_J
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I think my obsession with Greek mythology has just been reignited 😆 I really enjoyed this one! It focuses on the events immediately after the fall of Troy, mainly from the perspective of Briseis. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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youneverarrived
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This took a while to really get into, I‘d pick it up and have to remind myself who was who and what was going on. Around halfway I settled into it and ended up enjoying it for the most part. I like the writing and the cast of characters although I think it would have been just as good written fully from the perspective of Briseis. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

squirrelbrain Great review - I felt the same about this book; I enjoyed it but the cast of characters was huge and it was difficult to remember who was who. 3y
youneverarrived @squirrelbrain I‘m glad I‘m not the only one that thought so. I rated Silence of the Girls 4 stars so I must have liked that better although I can‘t remember much about it 🤔 3y
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Ellen_C
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Follow up to The Silence of the Girls. Barker continues the story of The Iliad from the point of view of Briseis, the enslaved Trojan princess carrying Achilles‘ child. While The Iliad is a mythical story, Barker‘s take on it reflects the violent reality of war and the fates of the women whose families and city are destroyed. https://cannonballread.com/2022/03/the-women-of-troy-a-novel-elcicco/

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unreal
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"We women are peculiar creatures. We tend not to love those who murder our families."

Loved this. It's about the aftermath of the Trojan War and its told primarily from the point of view of Briseis, one of the women captured from Troy. Retellings of the Trojan War abound but I really liked Pat Barker's take on it and the way she focused on the interactions between the Trojan women and their struggle to merely survive in a Greek world.

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ManyWordsLater
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Next up from the library TBR….

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SilverShanica
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I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 348.
#bookstoread
#tbrpile
#bookstagram

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Addison_Reads
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Loved it! 💚

This myth retelling deals with the aftermath of the Trojan War as seen through the eyes of the women involved. Barker does a great job of showing what these women went through, their love, their sacrifice, and their desire to survive at all costs.

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Kazzie
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Sequel to another book I enjoyed. Pat Barker writes engaging stories about historical happenings - given these characters a real life and interiority.

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Brimful
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A compelling read! Barker continues to demythologise the Trojan war by focusing on the experience of Briseis an enslaved woman pregnant with the child of the now dead Achilles and the second most beautiful woman in the world! Barker is less concerned with authenticity than with with bringing home the destructive consequences of toxic masculinity on the lives of women and indeed of men who do not conform to warrior norms. Not for the squeamish!

readingjedi Great review, I loved this too. 3y
Brimful Thank you! There is a real art to the short review that I am trying to master! 3y
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Brimful

I started this yesterday just after finishing Matrix without thinking about their similarities. Both are written from the standpoint of women from the distant past. Both focus on female solidarity and strategies in resistance to male power. It‘s going to be fascinating to see their differences. From my initial foray into The women of Troy I think Barker is more concerned with understanding contemporary issues of male violence but we will see!

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ManyWordsLater
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I haven‘t finished a book in almost a month. But I‘m excited for these two.

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thewallflower0707
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I liked this book much more than The Silence of the Women, which I thought completely missed the mark of focusing on the women. This book also contained a lot more new storylines, and not just the Iliad plot rehashed.

The picture was taken in Potsdam, in Park Sanssouci.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#TheWomenofTroy #read #review

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451Degrees
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Another excellent read from Pat Barker! Without saying it I am beginning to believe this is some form of trilogy following Briseis‘ timeline. I highly suggest reading Silence of the Girls before this one since there were many references to that story in this book. And I can definitely tell her story is not quite over…

Cinfhen Super excited for this book!! Glad to hear it was a pick 3y
451Degrees @Cinfhen it‘s definitely a good one!! 3y
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sprainedbrain
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I thought The Silence of the Girls was perfection, so had high hopes for this sequel—Barker does not disappoint. Hauntingly beautiful writing, taking us from the immediate aftermath of the fall of Troy to the Greeks finally leaving the shores, again from the perspectives of the women. I adore Briseis and couldn‘t get enough of seeing the fates other women through her eyes. Excellent audiobook production, too.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

AmyG I really enjoyed her first book. 3y
sprainedbrain @AmyG this one wasn‘t *quite* as good for me, but still excellent. I was just blown away by the first one! ❤️ 3y
BiblioLitten @sprainedbrain What was her first book? 3y
BiblioLitten Thank you 😊 Stacked! 3y
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451Degrees
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Little bit of daytime reading in between my night shifts at the hospital💀 really enjoying the flow of this story! Cozy cat 1 and 2 accompanying me😻 #theyreactuallymycats #jinxcat #finankitten #catsoflitsy

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OrangeMooseReads
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An excellent continuation of ‘The Silence of the Girls‘ . Well written with some developing depth of character and story.
I kind of hope she continues with the story so that the character can become deeper and the story more evolved. I enjoy Baker‘s writing style and the voice she gives her characters.

CoverToCoverGirl Can‘t wait to get to this book! I loved 3y
OrangeMooseReads @CoverToCoverGirl you‘ll like this one too 😊 3y
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451Degrees
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New bedside table book! Since I finished Bomber Mafia this one was sitting right under it! Loved Pat Barkers Silence of the Girls so I have high hopes for this one! Happy reading all!❤️📖

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OrangeMooseReads
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Started this today.
At first I thought “have I read this?” And then I looked and it made sense. 😁 I like ‘The Silence of the Girls‘ and so far this one is good.

CoverToCoverGirl I need this book! Loved 3y
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AliceFaustus
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"Some of the ties that bind people together are deeper than love."

nichollinlove I'm so excited to read this! I didn't know this was coming out and The Silence of the Girls was fantastic. 3y
AliceFaustus @nichollinlove newly published:) . İ hope you like this one, too. 3y
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Eyejaybee
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