Litsy

The Silence of the Girls: A Novel | Pat Barker

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The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy 1), by Pat Barker (2018)

Premise: The last days of the Trojan War told through the eyes of Briseis, the enslaved former princess of a Trojan ally whose theft by Agamemnon set off the events of the *Iliad*.

Review: The Greek myth retelling fad got old very quickly for me, but this is one of the best. Cont.

Mattsbookaday It does a brilliant job of bringing out the complexity of Achilles‘s and Patroclus‘s characters, truly heroic but also men who enslaved women for their pleasure and glory. Briseis is depicted as an intelligent woman determined to survive at all costs. This was wonderful and I‘m excited to read on in the series.

Bookish Pair: This stands in conversation with Madeline Miller‘s The Song of Achilles (2011)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8h

4 likes1 comment

Astroneman

Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

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Another woman's voice

#book #bookstagram #bookly #goodreads #libro #litsybook #leggere #litsy #libri #toread #bookreporter #booktok #tiktokbook #ioleggoperché #ioleggo #readingchallenge2025 #nataliehaynes #ilcantodicalliope #feltrinelli #Marsilio

28 likes

longbottomlk

A Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

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I‘m loving it so far

5 likes

Jehonzy

Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

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„Sing Muse, he said. Now do you hear me? I sang“ ~ Muse of epic poetry

Haynes spoke through Calliope and gave a voice to the broken women of Troy. It was nice to read the voice of the women in this war, I can only recommend it.

#mythology #greek #haynes #emotional

7 likes

bekakins

The Women of Troy: A Novel | Pat Barker

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Super interesting retelling of the period between the sack of Troy & the Greeks returning home… a part of the myth I don‘t believe I‘ve ever read about in this much detail. Loved it! Plus #bookspin lost for Jan (how on earth is it 2025 tomorrow?!?)

TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo

9 likes1 comment

Sargar114

A Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

Tagged my second favorite book (in both brackets). It was surprisingly beautifully told story of the Trojan war by the woman who lives and survived it. Was so impressed. Also a solid final four in this one. #readingbracket2024 @CSeydel

TheBookHippie I loved A Thousand Ships. I read the ARC many moons ago! 4mo

CSeydel Great bracket! 4mo

Librarybelle This was a really good book! I was surprised bow much I liked it! 4mo

Sargar114 @Librarybelle I agree, very surprising. I kind of snuck up on me how much I ended up liking it. @TheBookHippie it‘s so good! 4mo

23 likes1 stack add4 comments

Robotswithpersonality

A Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

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Hell yes. Exactly what I didn't quite realize I always wanted, the tale of the Trojan War told in events that precipitated it, and events that happened as result/consequences after it ended, all through the perspectives of various female characters, goddesses, nymphs, princesses, priestesses, mothers and daughters, many now enslaved.
Having recently reread the Iliad and Odyssey, it's that much more gratifying to see a modern, 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? well written, concise story retelling events in a unique fashion. It's not necessarily fresh just because it's told in a feminist light, but that by focusing on the women's perspectives/stories, the reader sees the full story from characters and angles not usually presented.
Some POVs repeat, certain are longer one-offs; I never felt like the time with each was too short. 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? The overall tale is tragic and brutal, when it's not overwhelmingly angry, but the thing about the somewhat episodic nature of the storytelling is I kept getting moments of 'oh, hey girl, it's you' which were more fascinating than sad, for me, anyway! 🤷🏼‍♂️😅 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? Additional observations:
Suggestion of Athene having a crush on Odysseus? Known that she favoured him, but I like that take.
Between this and Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes is committed to making Zeus into a buffoon, and I support that.
The muse in particular having her own repeated POV, her own voice, directing the narrative, was perfect. 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 5/? I did a tandem read with the audiobook, which is read by the author; I loved having her voice, her delivery, accompany my reading.
Incredibly smooth read, probably down to a combination of the quality of the writing and my familiarity with the events and characters described - despite shifting POVs and jumbled timeline, I was never lost. 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/6 Highly recommend (especially to those with some familiarity with the events described, I obviously can't attest to the reading experience had by those who don't know the story going in).
⚠️slavery, child death,SA 6mo

15 likes5 comments

Robotswithpersonality

A Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes

Penelope's so done. 😆

dabbe What she had to put up with ... #oytotheultimatevey 😂 6mo

dabbe Have you ever read Dorothy Parker's “Penelope“? If not, here it is:
“In the pathway of the sun,
In the footsteps of the breeze,
Where the world and sky are one,
He shall ride the silver seas,
He shall cut the glittering wave.
I shall sit at home, and rock;
Rise, to heed a neighbor's knock;
Brew my tea, and snip my thread;
Bleach the linen for my bed.
They will call him brave.“ 6mo

Robotswithpersonality @dabbe I hadn't, no. That's beautiful. ♥️ 6mo

13 likes3 comments

Robotswithpersonality

A Thousand Ships | Natalie Haynes