Hand of Fire by Judith Starkston is an impressive work of historical fiction and I didn’t want it to end. It is written elegantly, and the pacing is just right— the reader is immersed in this mythical world through Starkston’s detail, but the plot keeps moving.

Hand of Fire is the story of Briesis, a healing priestess from the late Bronze Age mentioned in only a handful of lines in Homer’s the Iliad. There is an intriguing mystery surrounding this woman. According to the legend, she was held captive by Achilles and the Greek Army during the Trojan War. Achilles killed her brothers in the sacking of her village, they apparently fell in love, and she triggered a rift between him and king Agamemnon. This story is told from her perspective.

The author’s research makes this book shine. She paints a vivid picture of the late Bronze Age, with regard to the daily lives of servants and kings, as well as the magnificence surrounding the half-god Achilles (and other gods, like his mother Thetis) and the terror of ancient battle.

The novel is unputdownable and I highly recommend it.

I have a weakness for stories that shine a light on little known women or give silenced women a voice in the way Anita Diamant spoke for the biblical Dina (Joseph’s only sister) in her wildly popular The Red Tent. Starkston takes a similar approach through the story of Briseis. In the Iliad Briseis has only a handful of lines, yet she is a pivotal character in the narrative arc of the classic poem, sparking a rift between Achilles and Agamemnon that almost brings the Greek war against Troy to ruin. In the poem she expresses her love for Achilles in spite of the fact that he killed her brothers and husband, sacked her city, and reduced her status from princess to slave. A tall order to build a believable scenario where that could happen! Starkston does a beautiful job taking the slender clues about Briseis’ life and times and building believable characters. Briseis matures from an uncertain girl to a woman capable of determining her own destiny in this engaging story.

I was particularly impressed with how Starkston dealt with women’s lives: the endless rounds of chores—particularly weaving—that even elite women dealt with; the emotional toll of being uprooted from home and family and thrust into a life of dependence on brutal foreign soldiers; the gritty experience of camp followers and slaves cooking, nursing, and hauling water. This is not only Briseis’ story, but that of her fellow captives, as well. The author provides us with a set of fully developed supporting characters—both female and male.

Starkston also explores the role of religion in this Bronze Age society. In a time when gods walked the earth and took sides in battles; when every stream, mountain, and cave had its sprite or guardian; when harvests, business success, and health depended on propitiating the gods; religion was integral to everyone’s life. Briseis is a healing priestess and steeped in the rituals that will protect her people. What happens to her faith when her city is devastated, her people murdered, and she is carried off into slavery by the son of a foreign goddess?

The author’s background as a classicist and her research skills add immensely to the historical details and setting of this book. She tramped the fields around Troy, visited Hittite archaeology sites and museums, and studied the latest research on Bronze Age culture. I like historical fiction that takes me to a different time and place. The best stories immerse me in a foreign culture and give me insight into the differences in societies and the commonalities of the human condition. I like to feel the fabric on my skin, smell the plants, taste the food, hear the music and religious chants, as well as see the craggy mountains or the wine dark sea.

Starkston delivers.

In conclusion, I found Hand of Fire to be a very satisfying read and an impressive debut novel. Highly recommended.

Once in a while I receive requests to preview an author's newest work.  In this case the author, Judith Starkston, asked me to read her novel Hand of Fire, a story about the Homeric figure of Briseis.  Well once she told me it was a Trojan War era tale I accepted without hesitation as this period of history has long been a favorite of mine.  Indeed, it was as a youngster reading the exploits of Heinrich Schliemann and his search for Troy that set me upon the path of being an ancient history aficionado.  I have read quite a few historical fictions of the epic struggle , David Gemmell, Glyn Illiffe, Dan Simmons to name a few but this is the first one I have read where the main character is female.   Briseis is probably known to most everyone who has read The Iliad or seen the historically flawed movie, Troy, as the cause of strife between Achilles and Agamemnon.   What the author does in Hand of Fire is to give her a captivating back story , an in depth tale of a young priestess of the goddess Kamrusepa, the Hittite goddess of healing and fertility, coming of age in a time of war and a young woman coming to grips with who the she is.

The author does an excellent job in setting up the eventual meeting of Achilles and Briseis and in the ongoing byplay between them as they slowly come to grips with their emotions and their entwined fates.