The Silence of the Girls: A Novel

Pat Barker

Sep 2018 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

A Washington Post Notable Book
One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, The Economist, Financial Times
 
Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award
Finalist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction

Here is the story of the Iliad as we’ve never heard it before: in the words of Briseis, Trojan queen and captive of Achilles. Given only a few words in Homer’s epic and largely erased by history, she is nonetheless a pivotal figure in the Trojan War. In these pages she comes fully to life: wry, watchful, forging connections among her fellow female prisoners even as she is caught between Greece’s two most powerful warriors. Her story pulls back the veil on the thousands of women who lived behind the scenes of the Greek army camp—concubines, nurses, prostitutes, the women who lay out the dead—as gods and mortals spar, and as a legendary war hurtles toward its inevitable conclusion. Brilliantly written, filled with moments of terror and beauty, The Silence of the Girls gives voice to an extraordinary woman—and makes an ancient story new again.

Ratings and reviews

Told in predominantly first person POV, we have the final weeks of detail on the battle for dominance of Troy from Briseis’ view. Former queen, taken by Achilles as a prize of war when he defeated her husband and brothers. Now a concubine, her awareness of the fact that she is not the hero of her own story, with no choice but to watch events unfold around her is clear {perhaps too clear – a fault of time elapsed from event to retell?} that gives an intriguing, and particularly easy to see the influence and moments from Homer’s original. With a few moments where Achilles’ perspective is presented, with an interesting presentation of his brutality while examining the perception of his heroism, a juxtaposition that many authors fail to handle as deftly. But the story is far more than just a retelling: Briseis is both politically adept and a keen observer of the world around her: no shrinking violet, she is watching, waiting and making choices that will best serve her for the future, should there be one. She manages to present her tale with musings that harken back to the lyricism and poetic feel /nature of Homer’s original, in fact I felt that much of the original’s rhythmic prose that added that sense of a classic, while present, also allowed the clear voice of Briseis as her story presents one of a person without a real dog in the fight, free to recount moments experienced from her unique perspective. Not simply a tale of ‘yet another woman in love with her captor’, the nuance and clear presentation of traits and characteristics often in direct contrast help to define and illustrate both Achilles and Patroclus, contrasting their moments of petulance, empathy and even jealousies adds another layer to the tale, allowing those interested in returning to the original a newer {and perhaps more connected} perspective and way to appreciate the tale, history and humanity within. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

About the author

Pat Barker is the author of Union Street, Blow Your House Down, Liza’s England, The Man Who Wasn't There, the Regeneration trilogy (Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, and The Ghost Road, which won the Booker Prize), Another World, Border Crossing, Double Vision, and the Life Class trilogy (Life Class, Toby's Room, and Noonday). She lives in Durham, England.