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A review by yorozuya
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My book club chose to read 'The Silence of the Girls' by Pat Barker- which suits me well because I absolutely adore Greek retellings!!!
It's the story of the Trojan War that we all know and have heard many times - but told from the female perspective this time: The Trojan women who were taken as slaves by the Greek.
The prose is overall beautiful and I paused just to admire how the words were arranged several times. There were also some expressions that took me by surprise in the context of this narrative, though perhaps the author wanted to show the coarser side of our more romanticised view on Ancient Greece.
Towards the middle/end, the book shifted to the male perspective a bit too much for my liking. I loved the insight into Achilles's mind (don't I always) and how the same scene could look from both his and Briseis's (the main narrator) point of view but despite the book's title I don't want these women's voices to be silenced.
It's the story of the Trojan War that we all know and have heard many times - but told from the female perspective this time: The Trojan women who were taken as slaves by the Greek.
The prose is overall beautiful and I paused just to admire how the words were arranged several times. There were also some expressions that took me by surprise in the context of this narrative, though perhaps the author wanted to show the coarser side of our more romanticised view on Ancient Greece.
Towards the middle/end, the book shifted to the male perspective a bit too much for my liking. I loved the insight into Achilles's mind (don't I always) and how the same scene could look from both his and Briseis's (the main narrator) point of view but despite the book's title I don't want these women's voices to be silenced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail