I enjoyed the story of this book and the characters it depicted, some of the names were very familiar, Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen of Troy... so it feels very familiar but the perspective of this story is what makes it so engaging. The story of Briseis, and through her eyes, the other women of the camp, brings more reality to the stories of these famed hero's, as people you can relate to - with character flaws and acts of humanity that make them seem more human than god-like.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

A retelling of the Trojan War from the point of view of Briseis, an aristocratic young woman taken as a prize by Achilles when her city was sacked. She and the other women are taken to the Greek encampment  on the battlefields at Troy where they are given to men as reward for their heroism in battle. Briseis is considered lucky for being awarded to Achilles, she could have become one of the common women made available to all of Agamemnon's soldiers. But although she is spared that horror she faces her own day-to-day nightmares and indignities, being the slave of the man who killed her family, required to share his bed. It is a very well written book and the new viewpoint turns the epic tales of male heroism on their heads, pointing out the vile realities and painting a very different portrait of Achilles. This is not a romanticised telling of Troy, it is brutal and unabashed but necessarily so. Pat Barker again shows her genius at capturing the horrors of war.

I was sent a free digital copy of this book by Netgalley.

The story of Achilles and the part he played in the Sack of Troy is legendary (narf), and the fates of Chryseis and Briseis play overlooked but essential roles in his story. <i>The Silence of the Girls</i> places Briseis front and centre, showing us who Achilles' slave-girl was before she became thus. Through her (non-Greek) eyes, we see the monstrous Achilles and the army that surrounds him, and experience her life as a slave.

I struggled with this review. I am a big fan of Greek mythology and there are some really fantastic retellings out there (Madeleine Miller, I'm looking at you). <i>The Silence of the Girls</i> does a good job, overall, but for me falls down a tad too much. We get a great insight into Briseis' life as a slave, but for a book that is all about her narrative, her voice is curiously silent at key parts of the book. As much as I enjoyed the brief sojourns into Patroclus and Achilles' POVs, I don't think it was necessary for this book and there could have been a way to continue seeing through Briseis' eyes. There is also a great focus in the closing chapters on the fact that this was Achilles' story, and that Briseis' story resumes once the war is over, but this led me to wonder why we didn't get to read about her life after the war. 

This felt like an opportunity missed for the sake of highlighting rape and battery in a famous (albeit to be fair, sanitised) story.

The story of Achilles – or more to the point, the story of Briseis, his trophy woman. The narrative switches between the point of view of the two; from the subjugation of Briseis from her previous regal position to that of slave and concubine, to Achilles’ as triumphant and arrogant young warrior.

A page-turner, an easily accessible entrance into this mythical world. A fascinating and compelling read from Pat Barker, I could not put this down. This kind of subject matter could be viewed as heavy and difficult – this read is anything but, try it!

The Silence of the Girls is a story about the Trojan War, mostly narrated by Briseis who is awarded as a prize to Achilles after he conquers her home of Lyrnessus.   This is a pretty gruesome, gloomy tale for the most part.  Men and boys are slaughtered, the women and girls shipped away to become slaves and concubines for the Greek army. But there is the odd brighter scene where the women support one another in their struggles that are quite touching and occasionally even a little amusing.  Very well and cleverly written, this is a real winner for fans of Greek mythology.

I loved this book! An absolute dream, reminiscent of Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. A beautifully written graphic depiction of the Trojan War from the perspective of women. Definitely worth reading!

The Silence of the Girls is a version of Homer's Iliad but - here's the twist - it's mainly told from the point of view of one of the women, Briseis, shining a light on the awful way women were treated in war: 'They're the warriors, with their helmets and armour, their swords and spears, and they don't seem to see our battles - or they prefer not to.'

Briseis' husband was Mynes, king of Leleges, but when her city was destroyed by the Greeks, the soldiers took her (and all the women) as a slave and she was awarded as a prize to legendary Greek fighter, Achilles. She went from being a queen to a sex slave that was simply something to be bargained with. SomeTHING, not someONE. Women really were just objects to be used. So, when I read that this book was a tale of the Trojan war as told by women, giving voices to women that had none and letting them tell their side of the story, it not only felt very topical for right now, but as a concept had the potential to be really interesting. However, I couldn't help but feel that this idea wasn't executed in any spectacular way. Ultimately, women during the Trojan war were seen as nothing but slaves and treated terribly. Hearing this from a female character doesn't change anything about that. Briseis sometimes tries to justify why women fall in love with their captors, or are so complacent to the men that killed their families to give a human angle to the terrible situation: 'I was a slave, and a slave will do anything, anything at all, to stop being a thing and become a person again.' 

So really what I'm reading is another version of the Iliad, a story I already know. Especially as despite being pitched as 'the Trojan War from the point of view of the women', Achilles has quite a few chapters from his point of view. To be honest, I did find myself skimming the Achilles chapters, they were not telling me anything different about his story, neither were they adding to his character.

It is well written - the terrible conditions of life in a war camp are graphically brought to life and I liked how Pat Barker attributes a lot of contemporary language to the characters - it gave a fresher feel to the retelling. Overall though, this has been the first book in a while that came with glowing reviews but sadly just didn't live up to the hype for me.

Having read the Song of Achilles, this is a startlingly different perspective on the conclusion of the Troy saga. A heartbreaking tale, it draws you in by highlighting an only too often overlooked aspect of warfare - the treatment of the innocent population of children and women at the hands of the victors. It makes for a much more humane story than that depicted by Homer, while the characters lose nothing of their unique traits ascribed to them by the great bard. The wily Odysseus, tormented Achilles, and the gentle Patroclus are all as you know and love them. A fabulous read. Come and visit.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books, and the author Pat Barker. 
I’ve always been a fan of Greek Mythology, and so found this new retelling from the women’s perspective incredibly interesting and involving. 
It is a compellingly written book, with Briseis as a sympathetic narrator, and I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in this genre.
It is so focused on the experiences of the women, that many key elements of the war aren’t even touched upon, including the Trojan Horse. This doesn’t detract from the novel but instead provides new viewpoints and appreciations of the brutality of the slaves’ experiences as spoils of a war and a society controlled entirely by men. 
Really enjoyed this book!

I loved this book. The story of Achilles from a completely different point of view,, Breisis who, once a queen in Troy, is now a slave given to Achilles as trophy of war. Here. Achilles is shown to be a man rather than half gd with all the weaknesses of humankind; love, jealousy, fear, anger. There is room for a little sentiment but this is no romance novel there is plenty of blood and guts too. Perfect for men and women who love Greek mythology Barker really brings all the characters to life.

Am normally a fan of retellings, but for me, this one fell short of the mark. The story was often repetitive and halfway through it really started to drag. Readers don't need to be continually reminded of the unsanitary and unhygienic living conditions of an Ancient Greek warcamp. The inclusion of Achilles as a POV character in the second half was odd given the premise of the book is a female retelling of the Trojan War. Plus the author's use of modern English slang and colloquialisms in the conversations was awful. Overall there isn't anything that stands out to make it original or memorable. It is a mediocre inclusion in a subject area that has had quite a few fantastic modern contributions.

I think the majority of people will have a certain image of Achilles in their heads thanks to the portrayal of his persona as a great warrior and handsome hero in major blockbuster movies. According to Greek mythology, Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the immortal Nereid Thetis. She is a sea nymph, a goddess of water and also purported to be one of fifty Nereids, the daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.

The latter is especially important during this story, because Achilles’ obsession with his mother has a direct influence on the way he interacts with women, in this case Briseis. The initial attraction is caused by memories evoked by the smell of the sea on Briseis, which reminds him of the mother who abandoned him. He returns to the sea over and over again to connect with the feeling of love and protection he misses so much. Achilles becomes the young boy who yearns for the arms of his mother. Of course in relation to Briseis and memories of his mother we are talking Oedipal complex.

The Greeks are fighting to get Helen back, the infamous Helen of Troy. This story is focused on the lives of the women in the camp of the Greeks during this conflict. Women and girls who are bounty from other conflicts and sieges. Any male above a certain age is considered a future threat and therefore annihilated.

It doesn’t matter which status the women had before, they are all in the same boat when they are taken prisoner. Saying that, there is still a hierarchy with the worst position being the women no man of importance has any interest in. They are given to the soldiers as camp whores. The others are just whores by a different name. Although sometimes a woman might rise to the position of wife, it tends to be a rarity. The reality is that these women are treated like voiceless scum.

Barker combines mythology, history and women’s fiction, the result is a beautiful bold and heart-wrenching piece of literature. It is the gift that keeps on giving. It speaks of the unheard voices and the imposed silence girls have always had to live with. Even the alleged hero, winner of hearts and ruler of warriors is but a man at the end of the day. A man who treats women with disdain.

There have been lots of feminist re-writings of the Greek Classics and myths in recent years. Some have been pretty uninspired but this one is great. When you see a book by Pat Barker you know you’re in for an excellently well-written story, so you can relax immediately. The descriptions of the camp were extremely evocative and the depiction of Achilles fresh and very interesting. I absolutely loved it. If you’ve enjoyed Emily Hauser or Madeleine Millar, you’ll absolutely adore this.

This book is just brilliant! 'The Iliad' is retold by the women like the teenage Briseis who survive in slavery when men destroy their cities and kill their fathers, brothers and children. She is awarded to Achilles, after his army sacks one of the towns neighbouring Troy. This book is a tribute to the raped, enslaved, widowed women, who watch their city burn and and hope for a moment to bury their slaughtered children and grandchildren before they are taken far away.

I’m probably making ‘The Silence of the Girls’ sound more depressing than it is. While deeply sad, this book is also about the triumph of hope over adversity.  I was surprised it didn’t win the Costa Prize as I thought it was superior to Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People.’

This is a stunning reimagining of a classic tale that puts women in the driving seat - where they always should have been! The prose is wonderfully lyrical and I can't wait to see what this author does next!

If you are a fan of Greek myths/literature, this retelling is one to read. Told mostly in the view point of Breises, she narrates her life and the lives of women as captured slaves during the battle of Troy. I’ve never had a proper Greek literature or classics discussion where you dissect the outer realms of what was presented in the source material. Retelling a classic in the view point of a somewhat prominent woman in the scene allows us to see those stories that were ignored, the voices that were unheard. It leads to question how women were generally treated during the time these were written - we discuss philosophers and theories and discoveries made by men during that time, but where were the women? Even in literature women are presented to be meek and beautiful, a sculpture to be admired - but what happens to them when all these wars are happening? There is an innate reaction for people to hide women and children, but none of us really know what happens after the war has passed. We follow the men and their triumphs and losses, women are immediately written out.

I liked the writing style though it does tend to shift from a first to third person view at times. There is a significant growth in the character as the narration goes by - at the end of it, the voice has certainly matured.

I love myth and mythology and even though I don't like the retelling stories, this one came out amazing,

I'm not normally a fan of these sort of retellings, but the description left me with no choice but to request it.
I'm so glad I did; this is a well written, enchanting and chilling story that I just had to get to the end of.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read this, but when I did pick it up I was very quickly swept up in the story of Briseis, a young captured slave who is awarded to Achilles during the Trojan wars. I know very little about the Trojan wars, but Barker is busy with the lives of the captured women, from their precarious associations to jobs in the camp, from medicine to weaving. The long term interweaving of lives comes through strongly too, from women asked to adapt or die. I felt for Briseis in her dilemmas, and was carried through a blood soaked story willing her to survive. 

I read the Regeneration trilogy a long time ago, but I think Barker manages the same thing here, the pity of war.

I should probably preface my review of this novel by saying that I'm generally not a big fan of myth (and also fairytale) retellings, although I did enjoy Madeline Miller's reimagining of the Iliad in The Song of Achilles and David Vann's take on Medea in Bright Air Black, but those were rare exceptions, and I often find that most of these modern myth/fairytale retellings add very little to the original story or change it so much that it almost becomes unrecognizable. 

The Silence of the Girls is (in my opinion, misleadingly) marketed as a feminist retelling of The Iliad, focusing on the plight of the women characters that are left in the background and have very little or no agency in the original Greek epic. Pat Barker sets out to tell their stories and give them their own individual voices, and she does, indeed, succeeded in doing that. The female characters are well realized, and the way she describes the reality of these women's lives felt very believable and appropriate to the time period that the novel is set. 

The story is told from the first-person perspective of Briseis, the wife of the ruler of the Trojan city of Lyrnessus. After the city is conquered by the Greeks, she becomes a slave and is given as a prize of honour to the "godlike" hero, Achilles, who killed her husband and brothers. Briseis serves as a witness to some of the famous moments described in the Iliad, but her perspective also gives us access to the fascinating interactions among the group captured Trojan women living as war trophies at the Greek camp. 

For the first quarter of the book, I was really enjoying the story, but then the author decided to introduce another perspective, which I guess, in retrospect, kind of make sense because otherwise, Briseis ran the risk of becoming an almost omnipresent narrator, however, these sudden shifts to a third-person male voice felt very messy. And that's when the story started to become boring to me. 

I think the strength of this novel lies in Briseis' narrative that offers a unique and fresh perspective to the well-known story, and, through her memories and observations, we get to hear about the experiences of the other Trojan women who are caught up in this ongoing war. My main issue with the book was that I found that the constant shifts to the third-person male perspective interrupted the flow of the narrative and also shifted the focus of the story back to the male characters and their actions. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what the author intended. Around halfway through the book, I found myself starting to compare this novel too much with The Song of Achilles, which I enjoyed more, but, despite my issues with this book, I would still recommend it to people who enjoy historical fiction and interesting takes on Ancient Greek myths.