Another brilliant book from Pat Barker. An intriguing angle on the story of the Fall of Troy seen from the point of view of a slave formerly a princess. Achilles and hos famous story from a different viewpoint. A very good read

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC. 

We all know the story of Troy right? I actually did an A-Level in Classical Civilisation so I really got to learn about it in depth. And I loved it!
BUT! Too often we weren't taught about the women, especially because of how the Iliad is mostly a book about the heroic men..... So The Silence of the Girls is essentially a book of the Iliad from the women's POV. More specifically, Briseis. She was Achilles' "prize" for overthrowing her city. The one who then was stolen by Agamemnon which caused Achilles to stop fighting in the war until his honour was retrieved. 

Though obviously we don't have much way of knowing if the small day-to-day things Briseis did was what actually happened, this book gives a possibility of what the women did and went through during the times of war with Troy. A lot of heartbreak, rape and slavery. We read of what Briseis' relationship with Achilles could have been like. Of what her daily chores could have consisted of. 

I for one found this book really easy to read and, even though for the most part this book is written in speculation, I found it to be a refreshing view of the Iliad. The first half especially I was enjoying immensely. The second half was a little bit harder to get through but only because I became impatient with knowing most of the main events still to happen. I wasn't really expecting the ending either, and now I want to go back and read the Iliad and see if that actually happened. 

So if you enjoy a historical fiction, especially one based on a well known story, this is the book for you. But I would not recommend it if you are triggered by rape and abuse. Because nothing can really sugarcoat that part of the Trojan war.

A really enjoyable read of a fictionalised Iliad told from the perspective of Briseis whose capture results in her becoming Achilles trophy. Apart from the overuse of the word 'liminal' (not a common word, and to use it 3 times in 1 book seems a bit excessive), i would recommend this to anyone wanting a female insight into the going on of a Greek battlefield.

A very well researched story, totally sucked me into the Greek / Trojan war and whether it really happened or not. Quite bleak but equally quite realistic for what it would have been like in Ancient Greece I imagine. Enjoyed it and was pretty unusual.

Loved this book! I could not put it down. Deffinately one to recommend to my book club. It was brilliant and so well written. Thanks to netgalley for the copy in return for an honest review!

Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls has a very clear feminist message about the struggle for women to extricate themselves from male-dominated narratives. The novel can be seen as a female take on The Iliad, focusing on the changing, unpredictable relationships and situations for the captive Briseis. The terror of her experience of being treated as an object rather than a person speaks for itself, seen through her time in the army camp, during battle, and her relationship with other female characters.

The Silence of the Girls is a novel that allows those who were dismissed as girls - the women trapped in a celebrated historical war - to speak, to be heard, to bear witness. Barker’s novel is an invitation to tell those forgotten stories, and to listen for voices silenced by history and power.

Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5

The Silence of the Girls was a moving retelling that focused on what the women had to endure whilst recounting the events of The Iliad by Homer. It wasn't as breathtaking as other Greek mythology retellings I've read (such as Circe by Madeline Miller) but it was still a rather powerful read.

The book is primarily told from the perspective of Briseis. She was the queen of Lyrnessus until Achilles sacked the city and killed every male- young or old. And what happened to the women of Lyrnessus? They all became slaves to the men who killed their families and destroyed their home. Briseis became Achilles' 'war prize', concubine and slave.

Seeing the events of the Trojan War through Briseis' eyes was interesting because in tales of Greek mythology everything is so focused on The Trials and Triumphs of the Great and Powerful Heroes that no one seems to care about the women, silently suffering in the background.  Through Briseis' inner thoughts, feelings and fears a whole new side to these Great and Powerful Heroes was revealed. A side that saw women as 'war prizes' to be awarded, used and passed on as one pleased, as objects that existed to serve as opposed to human beings with rights and lives that they were crushing every second of every day. Because no one sang songs about the women, theirs was a song of silence: of quiet tears, of broken hearts and of crushed hopes.

However, half way through the book, Achilles started to get some chapters from his perspective which was quite disappointing because I thought it was Briseis' story and I wanted to learn more about her, not him. And while Achilles was portrayed as a very complex character- from his insecurities about his mother leaving to his strong friendship with Patroclus and his hunger for fame and glory- I didn't want to read from his point of view, I felt as if he was stealing the limelight from Briseis. The only thing I got from his perspective was how much he utterly dismissed Briseis.

This was not a romance story. This was not a happy story. This was a story about how although women always ended up paying the greatest prices, nobody seemed to care.

Thank you to Penguin Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was not what I expected at first - written in deliberately colloquial register which jarred at first but I got used to the idiosyncrasy by the end. Some really beautiful passages and overall I did find it very moving. Must read more Pat Barker now.

I knew I would enjoy the story, as anything to do with Troy grabs my interest. This was no disappointment, giving me a different view of Achilles and Patroclus from the eyes of Briseis, the disputed trophy. I enjoyed the mix up of points of view, sometimes from inside Briseis' head, sometimes outside looking at the Greeks from a distance. But the tragedy was always waiting to happen, it was just when...

Having read and enjoyed mythology as a youngster, I found my interest revived with this book. The retelling of a well-known story from the point of view of the women, in particular Briseis is fascinating and beautifully done. The language and description make you part of the story, able to visualise what it must have been like. My first encounter with the writing of this novelist, certainly not my last. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Pat Barker/Penguin Books (UK) for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was an absolutely riveting read. The story of the Trojan war told by Briseis, a ‘prize’ awarded to Achilles for destroying her home and family. We see events through her eyes. The perilous savagery of an encampment trapped between the sea and beleaguered Troy, the casual violence and the fragile friendships that make every day existence so charged. This is stunning.

An eye opening account of the life of women and girls treated as the spoils of war in this retelling of the Iliad from a female perspective. Queen Briseis is the storyteller, and her experience as a concubine to the ruthless, and troubled Achilles is beautifully written with vivid descriptions. A great read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin for an ARC

I love The Iliad. I've read multiple takes on it, but rarely one from the perspective of the women whose lives were so intertwined with Achilles'.

A phenomenal character study, and one that lets no one down.

I fully adored this book and is my favourite Pat Barker novel that I've read so far. A wonderful look at the women in the Greek myths, this easy to read, colloquial novel is utterly unputdownable.

We all know about Helen of Troy – but what of the other women taken in the conquest? This retelling of the Trojan war happens ‘off-stage’ where women fear destitution even more than forced marriages to the men who killed their husbands. Although it centres on the damage that war does to women, ironically, where it really shone for me was the study of the enigmatic character of Achilles, who is portrayed as a heartless warrior who cries at night for his salty sea mother. Wonderful literary writing, great perspective – highly recommended.

Fabulous I now want to read more pat barker and more myth retellings.  A great way to tell the story from a female perspective and a pacy story

A good, enjoyable read. I did enjoy this. 
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

The Silence of the Girls is a phenomenal book. A fascinating and unique take on the myth of Achilles and the Trojan War told by the women that time forgot, the witnesses whose opinions mattered less than the dogs surrounding the camps of war. Pat Barker infuses a richness of detail to her characters and I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended.

There was nothing wrong with this book, though the constant changing of pov (including first to third person) was slightly annoying when it randomly started to occur in the last half of the book. 
I sat and read this all at once, because I knew that if I were to put it down, I wouldn't feel the motivation to pick it up.
It was more of a personal thing that I didn't enjoy this book- whilst I love historical fiction, I do not know enough about this set of characters/ the story behind this book in order to fully appreciate/ enjoy it.
I'd recommend it to those who were avid readers of retellings of greek mythology, as it kind of fell flat for me considering I'm not someone who is.

Trojan Briseis, Achilles’ bed-slave, is a lone figure at the end of ‘The Silence of the Girls’.  The reader has accompanied her through the savage slaughter of her family, her degradation as a sex slave, her continual fear of death and her new unchosen life as the wife of a Greek warrior.  As she looks back on Achilles’ story to which she has been tightly bound throughout her time in the Greek camp, she pronounces, ‘Now, my own story can begin.’
And this idea is at the centre of this novel.  As the title suggests, women are not invited to comment, propose, debate or decide.  To do so in this highly patriarchal society may be to risk one’s life.  Briseis is a pragmatist up to a point but, by building some kind of understanding with Patroclus, Achilles’ closest companion, she is able to occasionally share her feelings.  Anyone reading this novel as a feminist re-telling of Troy should understand that it is in not allowing the women to speak that Pat Barker reminds us just how deeply and for how long chauvinism has been embedded in the Western world.  
Barker is a wonderful teller of stories and her version of the Trojan war is no exception.  We can smell the rotting bodies, hear the groans in the medical tents, taste the salt air and hear the sea water lapping.  The heat of the fires, the rattle of the chariots and the shuttle of the looms worked by captive women in stifling huts stay in the reader’s mind whilst the contrast of the men’s lavish feasts, their hot scented baths and delicious wine reminds us that it is indeed a man’s world!  These men are brutal, all-powerful, trained killers.  Just as she does in her war stories of the twentieth century, Barker highlights how ongoing war affects soldiers and all who live among them.  Achilles may be a god-like warrior but his might on the battlefield comes at a price.  Briseis sees him broken with grief and hollowed out by murder, an unfeeling figurehead of Greek domination, and he knows she sees him.  Nevertheless, their relationship is never sentimentalised.  For much of the time he despises her and she loathes him.
A number of novels focusing on stories of the Ancient World have been published recently.  Of those that I have read, ‘The Silence of the Girls’ conjures up the Trojan War characters and events by far the most persuasively.  If one were to read this merely as a new version of the original one would not be disappointed.  However, Barker’s retelling does more.  It prompts us to confront the subjugation of women.  Brought up in a society where ‘silence becomes a woman’, Briseis can only speak freely with a few trusted women and only eventually has a place in society when she becomes a wife.  ‘The Silence of the Girls’ reminds us how fortunate we are to be able to use our voices, and implies that we should use them to tell our own important stories. 
My thanks to NetGalley and Hamish Hamilton for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.