I recently read the uncorrected copy of "Women of Troy" From Netgalley that long ago and it pains me to write this review because Silence of the Girl was a near-masterpiece, during the time of Madeline Miller's Circe. Silence of the Girl will put you through a range of emotions that even after reading it a third time you will think "why do I put myself through this?" Silence of the Girls was wonderful and inspiring. "Women of Troy" fails short. Briseis struggling to find a footing as the wife to her greek husband through a thrown-together marriage by Achilles. You can feel her struggle but besides that, there was no meaningful story among the women. It felt like a refresher from the first " Last time on Silence of the Girls" There were tons of repeated statements and scenes that felt copied and pasted. This is an uncorrected copy, yes but I would have loved to have read from other points of view like Helen, Hecuba, Cassandra, and even Andromache. Pyrrhus was interesting but he was not Achilles. Achilles had this magnetic energy that Pat Barker capture on the page. Pyrrhus is whining boy, she does this right but something was missing. Whatever Pat Barker did with the Silence of the Girl that made that story stick with me for nearly two years, wasn't here. I give it three stars because Pat Barker is a great storyteller. I will buy the final corrected copy and read it again. I sincerely hope that there will be a third book. I want to know how Briseis feels about her child after he or she is born? Will she be completely detached? Can we see Andromache with Pyrrhus or Even Cassandra, maybe even Helen. I would have loved to see those POVs.

The follow up novel to the outstanding The Silence of the Girls and this is a wonderful read, as well. A novelization of the Illiad, taking place after the fall of Troy, Barker captures the mood and excitement of the time. A glossary of the characters would be helpful at the end.

I had the same reaction to this as I did to Barker's previous book in this set, The Silence of the Girls: it's not very interesting. In the aftermath of the Trojan war, the Greeks wait for a wind to take them home. In the meantime, they set up camp and hold athletic games and plot. The women, stolen from Troy and raped and abused, create small communities of their own, trying to find stability amid the chaos. There have been a lot of retellings recently of the Odyssey and other Greek myth, and some of those have been imaginative and intriguing. This isn't one of those, and despite Barker's skill, she doesn't bring anything new to these stories.

I absolutely loved the Silence of the Girls and had high hopes for this book. Pat Barker did not disappoint! I was riveted to the continuing story and the character of Briseis. Definitely worth a read and a great choice for book clubs.

I am so thoroughly impressed with Pat Barker. This is historical fiction at its best. In this novel, Troy has been destroyed and the victors end up unable to get back home when no winds arrive for them to sail. They now have to live in the fallen city until they can go home. The book is a sequel to The Silence of the Girls and follows the stories of the incredible women who struggled through these events. I definitely need to read The Silence of the Girls now, since I hadn’t read it before. This book went a little slow and lagged at times, however I’ve read that The Silence of the Girls is more fast-paced and action packed. Pat Barker is a great historical fiction author though, who seems to research her novels very well.

These comments are for an advanced copy of The Women of Troy, which I was sent in exchange for a review.
The sequel to The Silence of the Girls, I went into this novel with incredibly high hopes expecting some of that same magic. But, unfortunately, this is markedly less interesting than the original. Lumbering and frequently boring, Barker manages to somehow write well below her abilities here, making most of the characters into condescending and unsympathetic stereotypes. Then there’s the issue of problematic portrayals. Barker has an entire section dedicated to Briseis mentally fat shaming a side character who is apparently so large that her pregnancy goes unnoticed until delivery (to say nothing of several characters being identified as being “retarded”). So. There’s that.
Briseis still delivers a coarse presentation of women’s experiences in the aftermath of the Trojan War (gritty and horrifying, complete with the anachronistic language idioms readers of The Silence of the Girls would expect), but she now comes across as more of a shallow reflection of the world happening around her, never really offering the depth of characterization that was expected. Pyrrhus, the least likable character by far, somehow comes out of this as the most complicated and fully developed.
In the ever-growing pantheon of myth retellings (The Song of Achilles, Circe, A Thousand Ships, The Witch’s Heart, and on and on), this highly anticipated entry misses the mark and was, ultimately, pretty disappointing.

What a fantastic follow up to the amazing The Silence of the Girls! Pat Barker's work focusing on the women of the Trojan War is spectacular and important. She writes about their constant changes in status -- from queens, to slaves, to concubines, and sometimes to queens again -- with insight and grit that gives fresh insight to these old stories. I'm excited to see what Barker has up next and will be doing a full review of this closer to its publication.

I thought The Silence of the Girls was outstanding and was anxious to read The Women of Troy. Initially I did not like it as well. But after further thought I realized that much of what made me love the first book is present in this one. Pat Barker has again made the characters of myth real and human. She has shown both the helplessness and the power of women in the aftermath or war. Once again she opened my eyes to the life behind the scenes, the life of women both in ancient times and today.

I read Pat Barker’s last book and this one is no exception it’s absolutely a masterpiece. Lyrical language and perfectly put together this one is a winner.