I've tried a few times to get into this book but it just doesn't grab me. I think it's the prose, it's very flat and utilitarian - more like a Facebook post than a literary novel. Perhaps this is supposed to give the story immediacy but I can't get a sense of the place or the period or the people. DNF

I expected to love this - I'm aware of Barker's reputation and am interested in reworkings of the Iliad - but unfortunately found it fairly pedestrian on the whole. I can see why she chose to use British WW2 slang and occasional Northern dialect to make dynamics in the ancient world clearer to a modern reader, but the fact remains that the women of Troy weren't from Manchester, and the story loses some of its strangeness and specificity by being amalgamated to feel this British while still being cluttered with amphorae and so on. I also thought that Barker's handling and dismissal of the queerness inherent in the Achilles/Patrokles relationship was somewhat mealy-mouthed. Nevertheless, her Briseis is earthy and convincing, and her clear-eyed, bleak depiction of the way women suffer during wartime and at the hands of men generally powerful.

Briseis was a queen before the Greeks came. Now she is a slave to the man who killed her family.

Described by some as a feminist Illiad, I was so excited to get my hands on this book and read for myself. I love the classical epics and anything with a feminist angle is right up my street, but sadly this tale fell short in my estimations. For a story that was being touted as breaking the silence of the women there was an awful lot of focus on Achilles still.

The character of Briseis started out brilliantly strong, offering a unique perspective on the war that isn’t usually portrayed in the tale. You really get the sense of fear and loss of self that her character feels alongside the other women – they are just objects to the men that sack their city. It’s a harrowing read at times, made even more so I think because of Briseis’ pragmatic descriptions. At points it seems like she accepts what has happened, at others she pushes back against the futility of the situation and strives to remain true to herself, as I think anyone would do in that situation. It’s an internal battle every day for her to keep going, mirrored by the physical battles going on around her. As the novel goes on though, I think she loses some of that strength and she begins to grate; you want her to do something to combat the situation but instead she becomes more of a whining character as the plot plays out.

As mentioned before, there is still a lot of focus on the character of Achilles which I found tiresome. There are already many retellings and reimaginings out there with him at the centre and many of them do a better job than this novel (I would highly recommend The Song of Achilles for this). If all the descriptions were through Briseis’ eyes I think I could understand it, as he’s portrayed unsympathetically, but there are a few points where the focus is solely on him, and not on her perception of him. I feel like this is a huge shame and lets down the initial premise of the book.

Sadly, I was left very underwhelmed by The Silence of the Girls. I felt it didn’t do the women’s stories justice, and ended up being another male-centric Troy tale.

At this point, I’ve read quite a few different retellings of the Battle of Troy - Helen of Troy, Starcrossed, Song of Achilles, to name a few - and if I’m being honest, the story becomes old. So I was quite excited when I heard about The Silence of the Girls - a retelling that focuses on the unheard voices. I’m not sure what I expected exactly - maybe the story to be told from the multiple points of view of different women? - but what I got was essentially the story of Achilles and Patroclus told - mostly - from a slaves perspective. And when I say mostly, I mean that we also got the point of view of Achilles - and while that would be interesting in any other retelling of this battle, I was really excited to just hear the unique perspectives of multiple women. I got Briseis and Achilles and I think a little bit of Patroclus and I wanted more dammit! So I think my disappointed in this read mostly stems from my expectations being a lot higher than what was delivered. Overall, it’s a good retelling of Helen of Troy, but doesn’t have anything of particular note.

A beautiful, challenging, moving take on a well known story. I had got a bit tired of 'classical re-writes' but this re-energised the genre for me with its fresh and modern storytelling. Have been buying copies for friends and family ever since I read it! One of my 2018 books of the year.

This was a really interesting take on a famous myth, presenting it from the female perspective and giving an insight into how women were treated at the time, and how little they counted except as possessions to show the power of the men they belonged to. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but found it hard going at times as I didn't always find it gripped me.

Briseis is a strong woman (there is a Wiki page for Briseis if you’re interested in the background). I’m not sure I would have handled everything quite as well as she does! The sights that she sees and the experiences that she has in the army camp are a long, long way from wearing a veil and being kept inside the palace because no-one could look on her. Despite making friends with some of the other women who were captured, life is full of fear and the unknown … and of course the women are powerless. Life with Agamemnon is very different from that with Achilles. She says:

“So we spent the nights curled up like spiders at the centre of our webs. Only we weren’t the spiders, we were the flies.”

A perfect description!

The complex relationship between Achilles and Patroclus drew me in. I thought this was portrayed really well. I felt very emotional when Patroclus was brought back to Achilles camp. His is the only male humility and humanity we see in this legend.

The reality of the war, treating injuries and life in the camp are brutal. It was so easy to believe myself taking part in this life. I feel honoured to have had this experience. The uniqueness of seeing this war through the narration of Queen Briseis gives a new perspective and although hard-hitting, one which I enjoyed.

Fantastic.
Was torn between reading on to find out what happened and wanting to savour the story. A retake on a familiar story from the eyes of a slave taken before the fall of Troy. Worth the read

Pat Barker is a master at simple descriptions which say everything you need to fire the imagination and see the worst of humanity in your mind's eye. She did it to deserved acclaim with the Regeneration trilogy and she's done it again with 'The Silence of the Girls'. 

And they are girls, almost all; reduced to pieces of meat and awarded as prizes to the conquering 'heroes'.

I found myself very quickly absorbed into the world of Briseis and her fate. Frustrating and at times, heart-pounding, the reader experiences her small victories and her great losses along with her and they keep coming. When you think things cannot get any worse, of course they do.

For me, the overriding feeling was one of fear. The women can never relax, never be at peace, as they never knew what the next moment would bring.

Agreeing with others, there is a section, heavy with emotion, towards the end of the book, that is somewhat distractingly, all told from Achilles' perspective, when the majority of the narrative has been how Briseis has perceived him and his domain. It does give an intense humanity to the character but I would say Briseis' sharp observations had been doing a very good job of this already and somehow the situation could have been manipulated to continue using her as the purveyor.

This does not take away from the fact, it is a wonderful piece of storytelling - commendable in its accessibility and believability. I can still feel the sand and smell the sea-rot. And don't get me started on the rats...

When the Greeks sack her home, Briseis is taken as a captive to the Greek camp outside of Troy and chosen to become Achilles’ concubine – a prize of battle. She must quickly adjust from her life as a queen to that of a slave, serving the enemy. As the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans wages on, Briseis finds herself caught between two of the most powerful Greeks, and in an unprecedented position to observe the two men driving the Greek forces in what will become their final confrontation.

The Silence of the Girls is a re-telling of Homer’s The Iliad,  told from the point of view of a woman, held captive in the Greek camp. It essentially tells the stories of the women and girls who were unwilling participants and collateral damage in the Trojan War. It’s a really interesting point of view to read from and Briseis was a fantastic narrator, but the main character of the book was really Achilles rather than Briseis, which was a tiny bit disappointing.

The story itself was not actually the most exciting. Despite there being a war (with a good amount of gory, bloody detail), the plot was not particularly action-packed or eventful. However, it was excellently written and I was completely addicted. The characters were very strong, likeable and well-developed – even Agamemnon, who plays the ‘villain’ role. The author does an outstanding job of balancing the ‘good vs. bad’ aspect of the plot, with Briseis being surrounded by her enemies and still managing to forge friendships with them, whilst remaining loyal to her people. Although the Greeks are clearly presented as the enemy, they are not made out to be negative characters and they have likeable and individual personalities.

Some of the content is pretty horrific: the women are captured, raped and brutalised. It is not pleasant to read, but these aspects are not overly visual and are, unfortunately, an unavoidable feature of Ancient Greek fiction. To take this content out of the story would be a misrepresentation of the time.

I love Greek mythology in general, and The Silence of the Girls exceeded my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I personally found the book a bit long. Although it was well written I felt something was missing and it prevented me from getting gripped by the book. A good read but not the best for me.

The Silence of the Girls is a vivid retelling of Homer’s Iliad. However, this time the focus is on the minor characters, namely the women taken as ‘spoils of war’. Queen Briseis is taken as a sex slave by Achilles when he destroys her city. Through Briseis we hear of the other female slaves in the encampment – women who are forced to serve the men that killed their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

I appreciate what Pat Barker is trying to do with The Silence of the Girls, and the visceral opening chapter gave me high hopes for the book, however I felt the book then stayed on one note going forward, and I wasn't transported back to the ancient world in the way I have been with other authors writing in similar areas.

My initial impression of this latest retelling of the fall of Troy from Greek mythology was along the lines of 'why bother?' However, the story-telling skill of Pat Barker quickly dispelled this grumpy question. Ms Barker shows a quite remarkable ability to weave the bare bones of the Troy fable into a living, breathing - and, yes, at times, gory - tale of real people caught up in the remorseless, grinding horror of warfare at its most savage and heart breaking. The author's chosen perspective is unusual, for the most part being the first person account of a Trojan noblewoman captured and - as was usual in such cases - made to serve as slave, in her case to the Greek warrior Achilles. Her journey from a senior member of the royal household to slave passed around from Achilles to Agamemnon and the indignities she was made to endure is well-described and captures the eternal plight of women caught up in warfare right up to the present day. This could have been a dry tale which would have tested the reader's endurance; instead it was a richly drawn and beautifully fluent reimagining of life in the turbulent days as the death of Achilles and the sacking of Troy draw near. Strongly recommended.

I had seen a review of this book (in my newspaper) before I read it and I must admit I found myself wondering whether I'd enjoy it as much as the professional reviewer had.  The main story teller is Briseis, a captured highborn female who had been claimed by Achilles as  his concubine and it is through her eyes that most of the story is told. The characters we've all heard of, but may not know too much about such as Achilles, Agamemnon and Priam are brought to life through her eyes.  I'm pleased to say I enjoyed the book every bit as much as the  reviewer did!

Having read a little of Greek mythology and history including some of Troy, Helen and so on I was delighted to be given the opportunity to read this fascinating book.

Written from the viewpoint of Briseis, former princess of the Trojan city of Lyrnessus, now Achilles’s prize, his slave. This take on the Trojan Wars brings home how the fate of women has so often hung on the whim of men. This is a fresh, new and exciting take on Homer’s Iliad.  Showing the effect of the Trojan war, indeed pretty much any war, on women and Briseis is a great voice to tell it. However, Pat Barker also gives account of how the war effects the men, how upbringing has shaped attitudes and how accepting of killing, of battle, of war and all it’s consequences men are and, if only for appearances sake, women have to be. Or do they? Should women remain silent? Should they accept their fate? Or can they be outspoken? Should they be willing to loose their own identity, their own traditions, customs and history? It is so very difficult to rail against a mighty foe. Briseis sees how very difficult it is to do any of this, indeed to even be seen as a person rather than a possession.

As we see how the War plays out we find out the fate of Troy, of Briseis, of Achilles, of the  women whose silence has been shattered in this very timely, wonderfully brought to life story.

This is a wonderful retelling, reimagining of that piece of history and one that will long live in the memory of the reader.

With thanks to Penguin Books UK, Hamish Hamilton via NetGalley for an eARC of The Silence of the Girls. This review is purely my own thoughts and, for which, I have received no payment.

I was both eager and apprehensive about reading Barker’s retelling of the Iliad. I’d recently read Madeleine Miller’s Song of Achilles and Circe so I wasn’t sure how well this would compete. In addition, Marion Zimmer Bradley (who I have A LOT of issues with) had already retold the Iliad from a female perspective in The Firebrand, so the concept wasn’t new to me. All that being said, Barker does a wonderful job of giving voices to the voiceless. I’ve never thought the men in the story of Troy were much cop – admittedly it was a different time, women were considered chattel, less valuable than a good horse and less intelligent in many cases too – and it’s always refreshing to read a perspective that isn’t covered by Homer’s patriarchal subjugation! This is a difficult book in some ways. Barker doesn’t sugar coat anything and in some respects I couldn’t say I enjoyed it. However it is so intelligently written with clever parallels to our own time, that it’s message is of great importance. Well researched and plotted and beautifully written. A must read.

What a tumult of emotions this book unleashes. ‘The Silence of the Girls’ by Pat Barker is a re-telling of the Trojan War from the viewpoint of Briseis, a captured Trojan queen who is enslaved in the Greek camp and claimed by Achilles as a prize of war. No matter that he killed her husband and brothers; that was the way things worked. Women were chattels without a voice, without feelings.
This is not a simple retelling of a myth, it is a comment on the danger of male-dominated warfare fuelled by anger, hate and a sense of competition while the women are treated as possessions. The first action of a conquering army was to slaughter all babies and pregnant women, to prevent more males being born which may be future enemies. Barker has long written about war, and about women; now she combines the two with a microscopic focus on Briseis. It is an emotional story, overwhelming at times. Some women adapt, others collapse; some fall in love with their captors. The details of daily life are steeped in realism – the butchering, the piss, the blood – and Barker makes you believe it all.
Structurally, the [albeit, short] sections that didn’t work for me were those told by Achilles. I was disappointed to leave Briseis and resented the intrusion of a male voice. In preference I would have preferred to hear from other women – Hecamede perhaps, Ritsa or Iphis – in the style of Barker’s first novel ‘Union Street’ where the stories of the women intertwine so by the end of the book you have a full picture.
At the beginning I worried about getting my Homer and classical history references straight, but realised this was taking me away from Briseis’s story. As soon as I stopped trying to remember ‘The Iliad’, I became entirely wrapped up in the book. Pat Barker never disappoints. She writes with passion, anger and earthiness about war and is a writer who never shirks from the difficult stuff.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

The great Greek myth told from a different perspective - finally a voice given to the women. Well-written, with captivating characters and thought-provoking moments. This is one for the brave and the silenced women through the ages. One of the best books I've read this year.

Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book, and it's been a few days since I finished it. While I admire the aim of the novel and some of the ways it tried to get there, I feel like it loses the magic of the myth. And maybe that's the point, but it lost my interest pretty quickly when the realism became too interested in being 'realism' than it did in telling a story.

I know what the intention for this book was, and there are some times where I could see it straining so hard to get across - which it sometimes does, don't get me wrong! But the point was to take the original of The Iliad and inject reality into the warfare and personality into the women. That was ultimately the main thing that drew me to this book. But you can't achieve that by pointing at someone and saying 'this is a real person' but not follow through in the writing. The women still felt far more stilted to me than the men did, and it felt like they got a lot less attention as well. And the same goes for the warfare; this book was grim beyond a narrative purpose (and when you're writing a book it has to have narrative purpose); you can show humanity (or lack thereof) in more ways than horror. Again, I understand the aim, but it didn't hit the goal for me.

I think the main issue for me was really that it doesn't finish what it starts. If this is to be an account of the Trojan War from the women's - particularly Briseis' perspective - then why are half the chapters devoted to retelling the traditional myth with the men's stories? Are you trying to make a point about men dominating women's narratives by perpetuating it yourself? In all seriousness though, Barker does give up the quest to show the women's lives pretty quickly when Achilles steps on the scene, and then I felt like I was reading something trying to be The Song of Achilles (though of course we can't possibly see two men kiss - fine if you keep in the canon of Briseis' perspective, only it doesn't).

That all being said, in enjoyment terms it did pretty well at redeeming itself towards the end, though the resolution itself was ridiculously rushed and cut off. In showing what else was happening in the camp - while losing the initial intention of the whole thing - did give me more of an actual narrative as a reader. And, as mentioned, I felt like the male characters were better written, sadly.

Contrary to what I may have implied, I did like The Silence of the Girls, as I love pretty much any retelling of Greek myth. I just think that, given the purpose (that was marketed anyway) was to rewrite an epic poem from a more progressive standpoint, it didn't do a whole lot of progressive politics in action.