A review by carolinasbooks
The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I don’t even know where to begin with this book.
I read this soon after I read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller which made it so jarring. In TSoA, Achilles and Patroclus are lovers and it’s beautiful. However, in The Silence of the Girls, they aren’t lovers and Achilles is a horrible person - he slaughters everyone in his path and essentially rapes Briseis over and over.
It’s very brutal and some things like smells or the way a corpse looks are described so well and realistically that there were a few moments that made me gag.
This is such an important read because The Iliad is so focused on men and this book flips that on its head because you get to see it all through the eyes of the women.
I read this soon after I read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller which made it so jarring. In TSoA, Achilles and Patroclus are lovers and it’s beautiful. However, in The Silence of the Girls, they aren’t lovers and Achilles is a horrible person - he slaughters everyone in his path and essentially rapes Briseis over and over.
It’s very brutal and some things like smells or the way a corpse looks are described so well and realistically that there were a few moments that made me gag.
This is such an important read because The Iliad is so focused on men and this book flips that on its head because you get to see it all through the eyes of the women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War