The Women of Troy picks up where The Silence of the Girls left off. The Trojan war has ended, the men of Troy are dead and the women held captive. As in the first book, we hear most of the story from Briseis’ perspective. She now has a unique place in the camp, her home and family were destroyed by the Greeks and she was given as a prize but now she is married and well settled into camp life. When Briseis’ knowledge of an event is limited a few chapters are told from the point of view of the priest Calchas and Achilles son, Pyrrhus.

Barker once again gives a voice to the characters that are often forgotten, women. But what I liked about this book in particular was its focus on a period of time that is not often covered in great detail. The events of the book all take place between the end of the Trojan war and when the Greeks left for their homelands. This is a quiet time, full of reflection and really allows the focus to be on the women although the influence of men is keenly felt.

There’s less action in this book and sometimes it can feel a little slow but Barker takes inspiration from another Greek story, Antigone of Sophocles, to add a direction and purpose to the story.

The Women of Troy brings more women to the forefront than The Silence of the Girls, yet it also manages to feel more intimate. It certainly holds its own but it does feel somewhat like a middle book, that there’s one more part of the story to tell.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC In Exchange for an honest review.

'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...'

I never miss an Iliad (or in this case, post-Iliad) retelling, so this was a must read. I liked that the chapters didn't drag on - each POV was short and kept you interested. Likewise, I feel like this is also easy to understand if you don't have any background information, which is always a plus. I've never anything by this author before, but I can understand why she is so recommended. I just didn't want this book to end.

On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of how 'Britishished' this way, i.e. references that wouldn't be made in this time period. I can understand why the author decided to include them, though I don't love though. The ending was good, but not as satisfactory as I'd expected.

I will be recommending this book, as well as having a look at other books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC.

"On the day Polxena died, I’d stood by Achilles’ burial mound and told myself that Achilles’ story had ended at the grace, and that my own story was about to begin. The truth? Achilles’ story never ends: whenever mean fight and die, you’ll find Achilles. And as for me – my story and his were inextricably linked."

This book is the sequel to Pat Barker’s (perhaps most famous for her Regeneration trilogy set in World War I) classical Greek/Trojan novel “Silence of the Girls”. That book was shortlisted for the 2018 Costa Novel Award, the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction, and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award and was a book I read in 2018, 2019 (for a book group) and again in 2021.

And there are a couple of comments to draw from this:

Firstly I think there is every likelihood that this is less a sequel than the second book in a trilogy (or possibly even a longer series)

Secondly I think the book is best read immediately after “The Silence of the Girls”. On one level this can be read standalone – there is some temporal overlap with the previous book, some events re-recalled and others remembered in summary. And of course the characters of the first novel are, literally, legendary – and the plot drawn very heavily from classical sources, so that background reading can be done by Wiki/Google. However, the style of the book (particularly the very deliberate anachronistic elements – 21st Century dialogue and WWI style combat) is a complete continuation of the first, so that a reader of the first will immediately know what to expect. This novel also assumes that we know the characters – particularly the main first party point-of-view narrator of both books – Briseis, given as a bed-slave to Achilles. Most importantly the plot (the it has to be said rather limited plot) of this novel relies in a key point on an extended scene (and non-classical details in that scene) from the first novel.

Returning to the first novel, it ended in the period after the Sack of Troy (although with that sack somewhat overshadowed for Briseis – by the death of Achilles – the other occasional third party point of view character). Shortly before his death in battle, Achilles, who had always known his fate was to die in glory below the walls of Troy, marries the pregnant Briseis to his loyal friend Alcimus so as to ensure the safety of his unborn child.

One late arrival in that story is Achilles son Pyrrhus who arrives to late to see his father, but in time to join the sack of Troy and butcher Priam. About him Briseis observes after his arrival:

"I watched him stagger across the floor, his fresh, young face slack with booze and shock, staring from one man to another, desperate for these men who’d known his father, who’d fought beside his father, to say how like Achilles he was …. But nobody did"

She herself finishes the first novel saying:

"Alcimus is here now, I have to go ….. I turn my back on the burial mound and let him lead me down to the ships …. Now, my own story can begin"

And in this second novel, while Breisis remains the main narrator, the book actually opens (and continues at intervals) with the third party viewpoint of Pyrrhus in a scene which starts in the Trojan Horse and which, in line with the deliberate anachronistic approach, feels more like a scene from a D-Day or Commando movie, but which then quickly picks up on Briseis’s observation as Pyrrhus even at his greatest moment of military heroism is stunned by Priam’s casual dismissal of any resemblance between him and his heroic father.

The author’s decision to suddenly switch to Achilles a long way through the first novel caused some, I think partly deserved, criticism. Here, the decision to include male voices (a third being the Trojan Priest in Greek service – Calchas – a key component in the “bar-room brawl” between Achilles and Agamemnon over Breseis in the first novel) is more explicit and integral to the book.

I am still not convinced it is entirely the correct decision. It does mean we do see more of Pyrrhus’s insecurity, how he is convinced that people are laughing at him, and conspiring against him, behind his back – but to be honest I sometimes felt I gained greater insight into him with Briseis’s three line observation in “The Silence of the Girls” than I did in copious point of view sections here. And at times I felt that choosing the rather false-Priest Calchas, and emphasising his bonds with and similar upbringing to Cassandra, was an easier option than having to write the latter (with her unshakeable if belief both in her prophecies and in their destiny to never be believed).

Whereas the first book was about war as experienced by its female victims - this book is very much about its aftermath and effectively a period of stasis as the Greek fleet is prevented from sailing home by a supernatural wind (Barker has a little fun with Odysseus being the keenest to make the short journey home).

Much of the book has Breisis, largely constrained and silent in the first book, but much freer with movement and speech in this book as now the wife of a Greek (and with her links to Achilles) spending time with the Trojan women (of all classes) and helping them process the trauma of what they have been through – the loss of their husbands and children, the forced rapes and the loss of all status and freedom. Many, in a link to the first book, are too traumatised to speak. One, a servant, with Barker I think borrowing from the Antigone legend (although I was more closely reminded I have to say of Saul’s concubine – Rizpah) insists on trying to bury Priam’s body (which Pyrrhus has deliberately treated in the way his father intended to treat Hector’s).

Breisis increasingly realises that Achilles (via his unborn child, the whims of his son and the hold he still holds over her husband who sees his role as more of a Guardian) still dominates her life.

I have to say I was not fully convinced by her character in the novel in one aspect – I struggled really to remember that she was pregnant – it was as though she and the author only sometimes remembered themselves and she witnesses a harrowing birth scene with, as far as I can tell, any real sense of what it means for her imminent future.

The men, again in a link to the line Barker explicitly drew in her first book from Greek legend to WWI to modern day rugby misogyny – spend their time transferring their violent and competitive urges to organised games and races (debating for example the blindness of the referees), while also debating what they have done to incur the wrath of the Gods.

In a nice twist they conclude that, while the various rapes, violations and assaults they committed in Temple’s and Sanctuaries can probably be dealt with by a few good deeds – that (having already tried female sacrifice in the first book) the wind-producing gods must have been offended by a slight to a male guest, that the worst punishment to demand of a man is his animal-companion and that the greatest sacrifice a man can offer is his appearance. This part could I think have been taken straight from “Game of Thrones” (I was wondering at what point bread and salt would make an appearance). That is not meant to be derogatory: Barker I think is writing about exactly the kind of (my phrase) rape with honour war culture that Martin also draws on (with rather different motivations) and which has applied (and is even celebrated) through the ages in patriarchal societies.

The book ends cleverly at exactly the same place as the first book although a later time. Briseis realising her story has still not really started, takes a last look at Achilles burial mound and is lead to the ships by Alcimus.

Overall this is a much quieter book than its predecessor but still a worthy one with a lot on which to reflect.

This is a follow up to the amazing The Silence of the Girls. It is written beautifully and tells about the pains "silenced" women have endured.

Retellings of the great Greek sagas and legends are one of my favourite genres within fiction but this one just didn't work for me at all. It had none of the depth that Haynes & Miller provide and for a book called the Women of Troy it felt a lot more about the men and didn't add much new perspective to the original.

This is a follow up to The Silence of the Girls, but works equally as a standalone - provided you have a basic background knowledge of the players and big events of the Trojan War.

It's thoroughly immersive - the sights and sounds of the days following the fall of Troy are brought vividly to life, and at times you could cut the atmosphere witha knife. It's slow moving but a brilliant character study which is a fair compromise to a slight, slow plot.

Another fascinating take on a story most will know something about but from a refreshing, different perspective.

This is the sequel to The Silence of the Girls, and you do really need to have read that first.

When the Greek army have squeezed themselves inside the Trojan Horse with the hopes of smuggling themselves inside the walls of Troy. Their ruse is a success, and soon every Trojan man, boy and male infant has been slaughtered. The women are captured and distributed among the Greeks as slaves. The Greeks plan to depart, but the wind is blowing in the wrong direction and they are forced to wait. With no war to distract them, they are restless and argumentative.

To the Greeks, the women are invisible: they talk freely in front of them and the women are not considered to have opinions or make plans of their own. This gives the women a degree of freedom but it they are still very much dependent on the men for their survival.

“We women are peculiar creatures. We tend not to love those who murder our families.”

The first book was based quite closely on the Iliad but this one covers events after that and it has given Pat Barker more freedom to imagine how events emerged. Unlike the first book, the women really do have a voice this time around and several of them are interesting and rounded characters. They are traumatised - they have been raped, they have seen their loved ones killed, they don’t know what the future holds – but they are determined to survive. Briseis is also a more complex and sympathetic character who is still processing her feelings for Achilles (whose child she carries) and Alcimus (to whom she is now married).

This was a really satisfying book and an excellent sequel.

This continues Briseis's narrative of life after Troy has been destroyed. Now she is married to Alcimus but carrying Achilles' child. Her position is as tenuous as it ever was - slave, prize, wife. Her friendships and alliances with the other women weave her through the story. Through her we see the hatred of Helen and the distrust of Cassandra. We also see Pyrrhus trying to live up to the legacy of his father Achilles.

As this follows the section of the tale where the Greeks are waiting for the Gods to forgive them and improve the weather so they can return home there is a slowness to the book. Which also leads to a sense of menace - just like the characters the readers are waiting for something to happen. Which will come first a change in the weather or fighting between the Greek heroes?

I had high expectations for this book, I like the cover and a pal with similar taste loved it. However, these expectations weren't met.

I didn't read the previous book and maybe I should have to see the author's writing style... anyhow, this one can be read as a standalone.

Nothing really happens, it drags for too long and it bored me. For a book that was supposed to be focused on the women of Troy, it is also told from the point of view of men which I found wasn't a good move. The way this author writes this retelling was not my cup of tea so this book wasn't for me.

Having recently devoured The Silence of the Girls I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on this and delighted to receive the advance copy via netgalley. Again I was completely blown away by the writing, humorous and heartbreaking in equal measure. I greatly enjoy this period, and Barker's narrative brings ancient history to life in shocking, breathtaking detail. An incredible talent and a fantastic read, thank you for the opportunity.

A brilliant read about the women of Troy who were taken by the Greeks as slaves after the downfall of Troy. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briseis, the wife of Achilles, This is the first book I have read written by Pat Barker and now keen to read more about Greek mythology.

I really enjoyed Pat Barker's first foray into Greek history and this is much the same. It was a fab read, filled with the power women contain (even when slaves), and focuses on their untold story after the war of Troy.

I have become more than a little obsessed by the whole Trojan War saga and Greek mythology in general over the last few years. I absolutely loved Pat Barker's Silence of the Girls and this new book, a sequel I guess, is just as engrossing and entertaining. As before with Silence of the Girls, Briseis takes centre stage and again we get to meet some of the lesser known ladies and hear their stories. Another wonderful read that has inspired me to finally have a go at Homer. Wish me luck...

I loved ‘The Silence of the Girls’ and I loved ‘The Women of Troy’ too. Pat Barker manages to bring this tale of the fall of Troy through the eyes of the women to life. I never had much interest in this era but these books have sparked my interest by giving the characters more to relate to.

Pat Barker has triumphed in the fictional re-telling of a classic tale in The Women of Troy. Following on from Silence of the Girls, the strong female characters continue to brave a hostile, blood thirsty world as the city of Troy is invaded and powerful men make slaves of the defeated women and murder their men.
The Gods are angry; the powerful Greek invaders stranded by a becalmed sea and the Women of Troy are living a dangerous and sometimes pitiful existence.
This is a book that will live long in the memory having built on the first novel, but also easily read as a stand alone story.
If you're a fan of historical fiction or enjoy a re-telling of ancient myths and legends, you are sure to love this!

Pat Barker really gets you inside this story – it is at once familiar, I have visited this place so many times before in other books, but completely new.
Set in the aftermath of the fall of troy, bloody, battered and enslaved, the trojan women try to survive as best they can. Everything that they knew and loved has gone, the old order has broken down. Not all of them will accept what fate lays before them, Not all of them will survive.
The Author tells this old story so vividly that it seems fresh and new. There are plenty of well-kent faces, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Pyrrhus and the long shadow cast by the dead Achilles. But this is not their story. Briseus, Cassandra, Helen, Hecuba and the other women take centre stage. This is an interesting, surprising and very well written story.
I shall be seeking out more books by this author – in particular 'the Silence of the Girls' which I suspect that I should have read first.

I have loved Pat Barker’s books ever since reading Union Street which describes austerity in the North East through the eyes of eight women. The author is able to get into the heads of the women she writes about taking readers with her on her characters’ journeys, in this case, the lives of the Trojan women, We have a retelling of the Iliad through the eyes of the women who are slaves after the capture of Troy in the well known story of The Trojan Horse. It is interesting how differently they view Helen in comparison with how Homer depicts her. So much of this story is sadly still true today in some parts of the world. The book is very well written and I highly recommend it. Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read it in advance of publication.

War’s end

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 the stink of the soldiers’ sweat, their fear that the plan is just too preposterous, their attempts to appear brave and unconcerned. The scene centres on the youthful son of Achilles, the lately arrived Pyrrhus, who has much to prove to the other warriors and to himself. The fall of Troy and Pyrrhus’ brutal murder of King Priam are rendered with apocalyptic violence, Pyrrhus realising he has fallen lamentably short of his father’s ability, insulted by the dying Priam in front of the watching women of Troy. Pyrrhus orders the body of the dead king to be unburied.

This impiety of the victorious Greeks leads to punishment from the gods, the fleet unable to depart from the Trojan coast, tormented by an endless wind whose moans echoes the spirits of the dead Trojans. In this desert-like landscape wander the Trojan women, now slaves of their Greek conquerors and the soldiers, anxious to depart for home. Among the women is Briseis, once the ‘prize’ of Achilles, now married to his lieutenant, and carrying Achilles’ child. As a free Trojan, respected for her marriage, she visits the captive women offering them what help she can.

Barker’s novel is not what I imagined it might be: I had thought it a sort of retelling of Euripides’ play, The Trojan Women. Yes, the characters from that play all appear: Queen Hekabe, Priam’s widow, now the slave of Odysseus, but formidable still; Spartan Helen, reconciled to her husband Menelaus, hated by all; Cassandra, wed to Agamemnon, grimly satisfied with the future she alone foresees; Andromache, Hector’s widow, bereft of her child, now concubine of the brutal Pyrrhus. But the part played by these women is minor. The author places the unburied corpse of Priam at the centre, ropes in the plot of another ancient work, the Antigone of Sophocles, and makes Greek departure from the land of Troy contingent on the observation of moral decencies demanded of victors.

For me what made this a marvellous novel was the brilliant portrayal of Pyrrhus. He is Achilles’ son, so he is strong and powerful. But he is Achilles’ son, so he is insecure and feels inadequate in comparison to his father. He is a violent killer, but he can be surprisingly thoughtful and sensitive. His relationship with Briseis who carries Achilles’ unborn child is interesting and, if there is another novel to succeed this one, it will be fascinating to see how that relationship develops.

The novel is demonstrably of the same world as its predecessor, but its atmosphere of doom, of the dissatisfaction of victory, of the maltreatment of the conquered, of the perceived inadequacies of the men, especially Pyrrhus, of the longsuffering patience of the women, their desire for revenge, but also for peace, all these integrate into an immensely moving whole. Some may not like it as much as the first. But the first had Achilles. This one has his son. And the story is not over. There may be more to come.

A great sequel to Pat Barker’s ‘The Silence Of The Girls’. A wonderful look at the slightly-less famous parts of the Greek saga, which is touching and moving and funny in equal measure. A must read.

Loved this book. Don't know where the previous one finished but this opens with the Greek soldiers sitting inside the Trojan horse waiting to be pulled through the gates of Troy. No different to men sat inside a tank waiting for the battle: nervous, sweating and needing the loo! I know this story very well but this book really spends its time within the Greek camps in the aftermath of the war. Everyone is going stir crazy unable to set sail for home due to the wind. Only Cassandra really knows what awaits on her return with Agamemnon, but of course she is not believed. This focuses on the activity of the captured women, royal and otherwise and their place within the camps of the various kings. Thanks to Netgalley.