Review: The Heroines

Title: The Heroines

Author: Laura Shepperson

Publisher: 31st January 2023 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 338 pages

Genre: Greek mythology, historical fiction, retellings

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

In Athens, crowds flock to witness the most shocking trial of the ancient world. The royal family is mired in scandal. Phaedra, young bride of King Theseus, has accused her stepson, Hippolytus of rape.

He's a prince, a talented horseman, a promising noble with his whole life ahead of him. She's a young and neglected wife, the youngest in a long line of Cretan women with less than savoury reputations.

The men of Athens must determine the truth. Who is guilty, and who is innocent?

But the women know truth is a slippery thing. After all, this is the age of heroes and the age of monsters. There are two sides to every story, and theirs has gone unheard.

Until now.

My Thoughts

‘I was to learn the truth: that any man can throw words up into the air, and it is women who must pay when those words land.’

The Heroines joins a strong group of Greek mythologies currently on offer for readers. Set out like a Greek tragedy with three acts and a Chorus (giving voice to the women of Greece - very clever!) it is presented as a powerful feminist retelling of Theseus's wife, Phaedra. This is a tale of women's rights and how they fought during this period against the often cruel ways of men and alas, their also often sad demise. 

The story is presented through a range of characters in individual chapters and reads like a letter in many ways rather than a direct retelling. This makes the reader somewhat removed from the story and problems further arise with a large cast of characters. These are all in first person (with frequent switches) and do not allow for full development. I do enjoy these Greek retellings regaling the lost voice of women, however, this book does not reach the standard of others currently on offer. 

The reader is left wanting something more in both character development and world building. The author does, however, clearly highlight the plight of women and their lack of power at this time. 

The Heroines is a fresh and contemporary retelling of this Greek myth, especially through the eyes of Phaedra who is often overshadowed by stronger characters from the period. Whilst I was excited to read her story and the book held potential, it needed more depth for me to make those necessary, deep connections. 

‘If they are the heroes, does that make us the heroines?

We keep going, we persevere, we ask for nothing and we get even less.

Where are our stories?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Ithaca

Title: Ithaca - The Songs of Penelope #1

Author: Claire North

Publisher: 13th September 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 400 pages

Genre: historical fiction, Greek mythology, retellings

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.

"North brings a powerful, fresh, and unflinching voice to ancient myth. Breathtaking." —Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne

Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.

 

Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 

 

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.

From the multi-award-winning author Claire North comes a daring reimagining that breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It’s time for the women of Ithaca to tell their tale . . .

My Thoughts

‘Let us therefore to Ithaca go, in that warm late summer when the leaves begin to crinkle and the ocean clouds tumble in too mighty to be bothered by the little land below.’

Ithaca is a wonderful addition to the various Greek mythological classic retellings of recent years. Author, Claire North, aims to provide a feminist perspective and voice to her book - from the power of its Queens, to the goddesses of Mount Olympus. Ithaca is the first book in a trilogy telling the story of Penelope, left to rule when Odysseus went to war.

I love a good retelling of Greek Mythology. This one follows the classic story of Penelope and the women of Ithaca, staying true to the original myth. It’s more character driven than plot which I believe adds to the feel of the book. Adding in the voice of the goddess Hera as the narrator, brings a whole new perspective to this particular retelling. Her sarcasm and humour may not sit well with some readers but being the goddess of women makes it perfect to my mind - how women can be strong, struggling for a balance between being a Queen, a mother and having some feminine freedom. There is a large cast of characters, sharp dialogues and much reflective writing.

‘Of these maids of Ithaca - these slave women and sold girls, these indentured daughters - so much more of them will I have to say. I am the goddess of queens, wives and women; my tasks may be thankless, but I perform them nonetheless.’

All up, Ithaca is a well written feminist take on the Greek myth giving voice to women as deserved. I look forward to reading the remaining books in this trilogy. If you love Greek mythology retellings with unique narrative voices, I recommend reading Ithaca. 

‘This is the world we live in. We are not heroes. We do not choose to be great; we have no power over our destinies. The scraps of freedom that we have are to pick between two poisons, to make the least bad decision we can, knowing that there is no outcome that will not leave us bruised.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Elektra

Title: Elektra

Author: Jennifer Saint

Publisher: 26th April 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 338 pages

Genre: historical fiction, Greek mythology, retellings

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods. 

Clytemnestra 

The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost. 

Cassandra 

Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall. 

Elektra 

The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?

My Thoughts

I read and reviewed Jennifer’s, Ariande, and loved it, so no surprises that I was eager to read her latest offering, Elektra. WOW! I loved it and then some. If Greek tragedies are your thing, you are in for a treat. 

‘…. my voice would be, at last, clear and brave. If I could speak the will of the gods and see the very fabric of fate, I could command attention and respect. With all of my heart, that was what I wanted. To be something other than myself; to speak in someone else’s words instead of my own.’

This book tells the story of three women who are each impacted by the Trojan war - Clytemnestra, Elektra, and Cassandra. If you are at all familiar with their stories, or the overall saga, you are in for a good retelling as this stays true to the original tale (think Troy: Fall of a City on Netflix) and I believe does a good job at giving a voice to these women.

‘A struggle for power was one thing - common enough, perhaps - but the history of this family I had joined was a gnarled and warped tangle, like the twisted roots of an ancient tree. Could I really believe that Agamemnon had severed the knot?’

What sets this apart from other retellings of this famous tale? The author chooses to focus on the ‘tainted’ bloodline of the cursed House of Atreus and how these three women’s fate are linked accordingly because of a curse, the dominance of powerful men and of course, the will of the Gods. I appreciated not only once again immersing myself in this famous tale but reading it afresh through three very different feminine perspectives. The characterisation is a definite highlight with all three viewpoints being clearly distinct. From all three women you get such different hopes and dreams with outlook and ambition surrounding revenge, abandonment, violence and trauma.

‘I wonder how she felt; what choice, if any, she had. My own twin sister, but I 

can’t imagine it at all. All the death and destruction that would chase them across the ocean; the years of relentless war that bought them their escape. Did she have any inkling of it? Of just how far the suffering would spread, how the tendrils of it would twist out to ensnare so many others?’

I believe Jennifer Saint has done an amazing job of interweaving, through elegant prose, the lives of these three very different women. The story is well paced and intensely heartbreaking at times. Ariande was a great debut however, Elektra I found to be next level engagement. This is a book I definitely recommend for readers who enjoy Greek tragedies through a feminist retelling. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Ariadne

Title: Ariadne 

Author: Jennifer Saint

Publisher: 29th April 2021 by Hachette Australia 

Pages: 400  pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, Greek mythology, retelling

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS.

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother – demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?

Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.

My Thoughts

‘In those crucial moments when fateful decisions were made, did they feel the air brighten with the zing of destiny? Or did they blunder on, not realising the pivotal moment in which destiny swung and fates were forged?’

Ariadne follows a similar retelling of the Classical Greek myths but with the perspective of the women who were traditionally left in the shadows. So, if you are at all familiar with Greek mythology, some of what you will read will surely be familiar. However, it is enlightening to see events from little known characters, in this instance, Ariadne.

Although the title focuses on Ariadne, the book in fact alternates between Ariadne and her younger sister Phaedra. The author develops the story of these two sisters whilst incorporating the well known myths - a perfect melding on a range of variations but with a female-focused retelling of the Greek myth.

 ‘Where was the bold Ariadne who had stepped aboard Theseus’ boat, her old life in flames behind her and the future unknown?’

Interestingly, it was Phaedra’s story that held just as much appeal for me as Ariadne’s. With the latter located on an island for most of the book, it was her sister Phaedra who interacted more and therefore had a less introspective story to tell. I had read much on Theseus' tale before, so it was Dionysus' tale that was new to me and engaging - a worthy Greek God inclusion.

If you have read and enjoyed the novels Circe or The Silence of the Girls then you are bound to enjoy Ariadne. It is a most engaging read, a sort of female modern insight and perspective into an infamous Greek tale of tragedy. 

‘My family was gone; they would never acknowledge me again. I knew it to be so, but I could not feel it to be true except in these sudden bursts of realisation. The light of that strange, unthinkable truth would dazzle me for a moment and then it would be gone again, a fleeting sense of terrible loss.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Silence of the Grils

Title:  The Silence of the Girls

Author: Pat Barker

Publisher: 30th August 2018 by Penguin Books

Pages: 336 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, Greek mythology, retelling

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Regeneration and one of our greatest contemporary writers on war comes a reimagining of the most famous conflict in literature - the legendary Trojan War.

When her city falls to the Greeks, Briseis's old life is shattered. She is transformed from queen to captive, from free woman to slave, awarded to the god-like warrior Achilles as a prize of war. And she's not alone. On the same day, and on many others in the course of a long and bitter war, innumerable women have been wrested from their homes and flung to the fighters.

The Trojan War is known as a man's story: a quarrel between men over a woman, stolen from her home and spirited across the sea. But what of the other women in this story, silenced by history? What words did they speak when alone with each other, in the laundry, at the loom, when laying out the dead?

In this magnificent historical novel, Pat Barker charts one woman's journey through the chaos of the most famous war in history, as she struggles to free herself and to become the author of her own story.

My Thoughts

In The Silence of the Girls, women who up until now were mostly ‘silenced’ regarding the story of the Trojan War, are given a voice. How wonderful! So for all Greek tragedy lovers out there, this is basically a re-telling of the final few scenes from, The Iliad’s Trojan War but from the voice of a Greek slave. The voice here is that of Briseis, a Trojan captive given to Achilles as a war prize.

“I was no longer the outward and visible sign of Agamemnon’s power and Achilles’ humiliation. No, I’d become something altogether more sinister: I was the girl who’d caused the quarrel. Oh, yes, I’d caused it – in much the same way, I suppose, as a bone is responsible for a dogfight.”

The author tells the story of the female characters who lie in the background of this ancient Greek epic. The women who normally we never hear from, are now given a voice - their thoughts and feelings. These are the women who are at the mercy of their captors, the very men who killed their fathers, brothers, husbands and now find themselves trying to survive and make an existence (I won’t say ‘life’) for themselves. Through Briseis eyes, the reader is given front row seats to not only the support network among other female captives, but also the rift between Agamemnon and Achilles and the impact of their fallout, not only on the war, but also to pertinent individuals.

“Something else, something I couldn’t put my finger on, had made me turn back. Perhaps no more than a feeling that this was my place now, that I had to make my life work here.”

I feel this really is sublime writing in portraying not only the resilience but also determination, healing and angst of both sides of this tragic tale - Greek and Trojan. The everyday brutalities are front and centre as you are faced with not only war, violence and ensuing slavery, but the pertinent issues of rape, slavery and death. This is just so unique as this previously male dominated story is now given the yin to its yang, the light to its shade- the female voice has been awaken.

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

If you have read and loved, The Song of Achilles or The Iliad, you will be entranced by this haunting tale. The horror of war, the mistreatment of women matched against the love and strength of characters is truly moving. The Silence of the Girls sheds light on a well told Greek tale and will leave you richer for the experience.

There was nothing to be gained by clinging to a past that no longer existed. But I did cling to it, because in that lost world I’d been somebody, a person with a role in life. And I felt if I let that go, I’d be losing the last vestige of myself.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: For The Immortal

Title:  For The Immortal (Golden Apple Trilogy #3)

Author: Emily Hauser

Publisher: 14th June  2018 by Random House UK, Transworld Publisher

Pages: 384 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, Greek mythology

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Thousands of years ago, in an ancient world where the gods control all and heroes fight to have their names remembered down the ages, two extraordinary women become entangled in one of the greatest heroic tales of all time . . . and must face how much they are willing to risk for immortality.

Desperate to save her dying brother, Admete persuades her father, the king of Tiryns, to let her join Hercules on one of his legendary twelve labours. Travelling to the renowned female warrior Amazons in search of a cure, Admete soon discovers that both Hercules and the fearsome Amazons are not as they first seemed.

The Amazons greet the arrival of the Greeks with mixed feelings – and none more so than Hippolyta, the revered queen of the tribe. For Hercules and his band of fighters pose a threat to her way of life – but also stir up painful memories that threaten to expose her deepest secret.

As battle lines are drawn between the Greeks and the Amazons, both women soon learn the inevitable truth – in war, sacrifices must be made; especially if they are to protect the ones they love most . .

My Thoughts

Emily Hauser’s Golden Apple trilogy investigates various women from Greek mythology. Although the three books are connected, they can be viewed as a standalone as each covers a different legend. The final book in this trilogy centres around three women Hippolyta the Queen of the Amazons, Admete the daughter of Eurystheus and Hera, goddess and wife of Zeus.

For the Immortal mostly alternates between the stories of Admete and Hippolyta - two seemingly unrelated stories, but in time, the paths of these two women do cross. Admete and Hippolyta come from such different backgrounds and way of life, but both face similar problems - the overriding authority of living in a male dominated world. These (in)famous men are portrayed very differently here - you really won’t like them - but that is the point.

These stories are, in the words of the author, ‘based around a conglomeration of different myths from all sources’. In this instalment, you will encounter the stories of: Hercules (formerly Alcides); Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; briefly, Theseus; and of course, the Greek Gods themselves with the spotlight here on Hera. Hauser’s notes at the end of the story clearly outline her decision making in which myths and characters she included and her interpretation of them. I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of Hippolyta and her two sisters and how she fictionalised each of them in distinct phases.

There are some slow parts but overall another wonderful escape into the world of Greek mythology. It is clearly evident the amount of research Hauser has undertaken, and how she cleverly provides a wealth of information, merged and translated for fictional purposes in an effort to create her unique and fascinating interpretation. Definitely worth a read for lovers of Greek mythology.

‘You are a bard, and I a scribe. Together we may make a story, a tale of heroes that will be told down the generations’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release