The Women of Troy by Pat Barker is a intriguing and emotionally charged novel that is a perfect fit for readers who appreciate historical fiction, Greek mythology, and feminist perspectives, and are drawn to stories that explore the complexities of war, power, and the resilience of women in the face of adversity.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

The Trojan War has finally ended after a decade of brutality, and so many men have perished—both Trojan and Greek—women are in the majority, many former slaves, as well as freed women find themselves forced to fend for themselves now, although Trojan women know that they will be ultimately forced into indentured prostitution and put on boats to Greece when the tides become favorable enough for sailing in Pat Barker’s, “The Women of Troy.”

This slow-paced saga of restless women exploring their new-found independence and men struggling still to prove their identities and prowess is an age-old and timeless story thousands of years in the making.

TheBookMaven graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Pat Barker, and Publisher Doubleday Books /Doubleday for this advance reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

The book had a strong start. I had never really thought about the flip side of the story--how it deeply affected the women. Their struggles and tragedies really propelled the book at first, but in the end, it got a bit tedious and hard to finish.

Pat Barker continues her retelling of the events of the Trojan War from Briseis' perspective in this sequel to The Silence of the Girl. I think it also works as a standalone novel, as long as you have some basic knowledge of the Illiad's main characters and relationships. The story takes place immediately after the fall of Troy, but before the Greeks are able to depart for their various kingdoms across the Aegean Sea.

Briseis, like the Greek army, is stuck in a liminal space - she's no longer Achilles' prize but she's not a Greek noblewoman either. She uses her ambiguous position of relative safety to check on the Trojan captives and look after them to some extent. It's fascinating to see her interact with Hecuba, Cassandra, and Andromache, but the book shines when it focuses on the stories of the lower caste women whose names have otherwise gone unremembered. Several of the women now being held captive by the Greeks had previously been enslaved by the Trojans; some are even experiencing improved circumstances. Barker treats them all with compassion and nuance. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Loved this follow up to The Silence of the Girls. Pat Barker is a great literary force and offers a different perspective of the Trojan War and Achilles. Looking forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

This novel picks up where Pat Barker's last novel, "The Silence of the Girls," ended. It covers the brief time between the sack of Troy and the departure home of the victorious Greeks. They are prevented from leaving for this time by the gods (creating an onshore wind) because Pyrrhus, Achilles' 16-year-old son who butchered King Prime,, won't let anyone bury Prium.

The story is primarily narrated by Briseis, the main narrator of the earlier book, who became a prize trophy of Achilles. But for some disconcerting reason Pat Barker chose to narrate a few sections in Pyrrhus's voice and even fewer sections in the priest Calchas's voice (a character poorly imagined). As both novels claim to be retelling the well-known story of the Trojan war and its aftermath from a woman's perspective, it is hard to understand what is gained by inserting these sections narrated by men.

For a 300-page novel the plot is slim. It recounts the plight of the Trojan widows - Hecuba, Helen, Andromache, Cassandra, and an invented character, Amina. Amina is the most defiant of the captive Trojan women. She is ready to risk her life to bury Prium against Pyrrhus's orders. The remaining women, apart from Briseis, whom Acillies married to Alcimus, a Greek lieutenant before his death, are slaves who spend their time attempting to reconcile themselves to their new lives as captives. Apart from the drama surrounding Prium's burial the other major event is Calchas's priestly verdict that Pyrrhus is responsible for the god's wrath preventing the Greeks from leaving and Pyrrhus's defiant response to the penalty invoked.

Barker has consciously chosen to use contemporary language. While this is a justifiable approach, I still found some of the expressions jarring, expressions like "gobshite" and "sucker."

For me this novel lacked what made her WW1 trilogy so satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley for making available an ARC.

I tried really hard to read the first in this series, but I had to put it down. It's probably the most realistic depiction of that story I've come across, but, honestly, that's why I didn't like it.

Because I've read so many versions of the same story already, I'm always excited for the new breath an author will put into the tale. This felt a lot more like a deep exploration of what those people would feel-particularly exploring the worst things that were said to have happened.

This is not the type of story I was looking for. I'm sure it's someone else's cup of tea, but if I wanted to just read about lots of suffering, I'd have picked up a non-fiction title.

I'm normally a fan of Greek retellings and loved Pat Barker's last book, The Silence of the Girls, but for some reason The Women of Troy just didn't work for me. For some reason I just could not connect with the Trojan women in this retelling. Barker's writing was as wonderful as ever, but this was a story that just didn't work for me.

This was a phenomenal sequel to the moving Silence of the Girls. While Achilles' story ended with the Trojan War, Briseis' didn't, as was seen here. This was another brilliant novel by Pat Barker, and I hope to see a continuation of this series!

I recommend this one. It's a good book and everyone should read. Of course I would love to have this book in my bookstore.

Having been blown away by Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls, I couldn't wait to read The Women of Troy. This one has many of the same elements that made that one great: evocative descriptions, beautifully-crafted language, and emotionally powerful depictions of the stark reality of the lives of women in the Ancient World. While I didn't connect to this one quite as much as the first, it was still an impressive novel and one that will leave a lasting impression on readers.

Pat Barker is a key voice when it comes to retellings of Greek mythology. I enjoyed The Silence of the Girls, and so I was glad to have the chance to read The Women of Troy. This book shares the voices of the women in the aftermath of war. It's a must-read for lovers of books like Circe and the classics.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Pat Barker is a tour de force. She is an amazing writer and I have loved all of her novels, I've always had an affinity for Greek literature, but Pat Barker has a way of breathing life into these stories. These are stories we all know but Barker recreates them and modernizes them for new audiences.

I can't recommend this more!

I am a great lover of all things mythology and Ancient History so this recent surge of retellings has me walking around with a permanent smile on my face. This book is a great way to read about the Trojan War without having to focus so strongly on the male characters from Homer's original Iliad.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this title All opinions are my own.

Excellent read for fans of Madeleine Miller and Greek mythology. It focuses on the lives and experiences of the women, who many times are supporting characters in the original narratives. This takes them a step further and imagines their lives following the aftermath of the war, and what might happen to them from their previous high positions to their current situations.

With a first line of "Inside the horse's gut," the first paragraph's ending of "wriggling like worms in a horse's shite," and the phrase a few pages in of "oh my god, he needs a shit" - not a fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed another experience with Pat Barker's version of the the fall of Troy. This book is both tragic and inspiring, and paints a vivid picture of what life was like for women after the war. The characters are well-developed and you easily become invested in their lives and where there newfound positions as slaves will take them. If you enjoyed The Silence of the Girls, this is an absolute must-read!

I was a little surprised by this one (and by no means in a bad way!). I was picturing something a little more romanticized like The Song of Achilles, but Barker's book was grittier than that. I like this though because it highlights the less than pretty aspects of history - the fact that war has blood, and death, and rot and that the people left over after the war don't always end up happily ever after. You see a lot of the famous heroes, but you get more than that. This book brings to life the women left in the aftermath. It shows their strengths and their struggles to survive.

If you haven't read this book or her first novel "The Silence of the Girls" I highly recommend that you do so!

As a history teacher I love to get my hands on books about history, especially ones that focus on women and the important roles they played in history. Everyone knows the story of Achilles, The Trojan War and the Trojan horse, but not many people know what happened to the women after the fighting. This is the story of them. The survivors of war who now are dealing with the fallout of war caused by men. This was such an interesting story and I loved it so much. I highly recommend this author!