The Women of Troy - Pat Barker

Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won their bitter war. They can return home as victors - all they need is a good wind to lift their sails. But the wind has vanished, the seas becalmed by vengeful gods, and so the warriors remain in limbo - camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed, kept company by the women they stole from it.

The women of Troy.

Helen - poor Helen. All that beauty, all that grace - and she was just a mouldy old bone for feral dogs to fight over.

Cassandra, who has learned not to be too attached to her own prophecies. They have only ever been believed when she can get a man to deliver them.

Stubborn Amina, with her gaze still fixed on the ruined towers of Troy, determined to avenge the slaughter of her king.

Hecuba, howling and clawing her cheeks on the silent shore, as if she could make her cries heard in the gloomy halls of Hades. As if she could wake the dead.

And Briseis, carrying her future in her womb: the unborn child of the dead hero Achilles. Once again caught up in the disputes of violent men. Once again faced with the chance to shape history.

I absolutely adored The Silence of the Girls, the prequel to this book. The women of Troy is very good as well, just not as good as the previous. Funnily, I also read Elektra this month which also deals with the Trojan War and its aftermath, and it was just a little better than this book, so it's 4 stars from me.

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 7: A city or country name in the title.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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