Weer een prachtige Pat Barker, deze keer vanuit het standpunt van Briseis, het verhaal van wat er gebeurt met de vrouwen van een veroverde stad: de mannen en jongens worden gedood en de vrouwen en de meisjes als slaven verkocht of weggegeven. Briseis wordt aan Achilles gegeven, Patroclus is de enige man die echt aardig voor haar is. Ze gaat vaak stiekem. Zwemmen, Achilles doet datt ook, dan is hij even bij zijn moeder Thetis. Briseis ruikt daarna naar de zee en Achilles wordt daar helemaal gek van. Door van Achilles te zijn heeft Briseis nog niet eens zo’n slecht leven als vele anderen, minder jonge, minder mooie vrouwen van “mindere” afkomst. Agamemnon eist haar op een dag op voor zichzelf. Achilles is dan zo woedend dat hij niet meer mee vecht. Het gaat hem niet om het meisje, maar hij is in zijn eer aangetast. Als de Pest uitbreekt gaat Patroclus als Achilles vechten, hij wordt door Hector gedood. Achilles doodt en onteert Hector, en sleept hem achter zijn paard aan. Pas als Priamus komt smeken om het lichaam van zijn zoon geeft Achilles hem terug. Het verhaal eindigt met de val van Troje (zonder het verhaal van het paard). De jongste dochter van Priamus, Polyxena wordt “voor Ajax” geofferd door Agamemnon. Andromache wordt aan de zoon van Achilles, Phyrrus, gegeven, Cassandra aan Agamemnon, Achilles heeft Briseis nog laten trouwen met Alcimus, omdat ze dan een deel van leven heeft, en ze zwanger is. ( )

This novel is a retelling of the Illiad and focuses on the last few weeks of the Trojan war leading up to the sacking of Troy, the slaughter of its male inhabitants and the enslavement of its women. It begins with the viewpoint of Briseis, a pivotal character in the Illiad but one not given her own voice. Queen of Lyrnessus, a satellite city of Troy, she is handed to Achilles as war price for his part in the sacking of her city, which included the slaughter of all the men and boys. After witnessing the cutting down of her brothers and husband by Achilles, she must endure being his bed-girl which includes rape, and later on more abuse by Agamemnon, the King in charge of the Greek army with whom Achilles had a falling out.

I found the earlier parts more interesting because as the book progresses there are sections from the viewpoint of Achilles. Possibly this is to include events and conversations which Briseis could not witness, being both female and a slave. It develops Achilles as a layered character with his own demons and throws more light on the devoted relationship between him and Patroclus, a King's son who, as a boy, killed another boy in an argument over a game of dice and was sent to become Achilles' companion. Patroclus, too, has more sides, one of them being that he is the only man in the camp who is kind to the female captives.

There is a deliberate anachronistic use of British slang and rude rugby songs in the book which on the whole I didn't mind but which occasionally jarred. I had hoped for more on how the female captives interacted. Maybe the title is a clue, because around the men the slaves have to keep quiet and among themselves they talk more about the men, probably because the men have the power of life and death over them. As Briseis herself says bitterly, she is part of Achilles' story. Also despite the overall blood-and-guts realism, the story veers into supernatural territory with the inclusion of Achilles' sea nymph mother - other people see her so she isn't some psychological quirk of his - and the transformation of Hector's corpse. The cover of this edition is also very striking.

On the grounds that I enjoyed this retelling more than 'The Song of Achilles' by Madeline Miller, enough to order the follow-up, I'm awarding this an additional star and give it a 4 star rating. ( )

What a tour de force! The Trojan War from a woman's perspective... Really powerful! ( )

I love retellings. There's something particularly enjoyable for me in reading a familiar story from a different point of view, and I particularly enjoy the ones where traditionally male-centric stories are re-told from women's perspectives. Similarly to other great retellings, like The Penelopiad and Circe, The Silence of the Girls takes on Greek mythology, and in particular the Trojan war.

The book is told entirely through the point of view of Briseis, a queen forced to become a slave after the Greeks conquer her city and murder her husband. While in the original Briseis is little more than a plot device to explain Achilles's rage and refusal to fight, here she finally takes on a full life, and her story is told fully. All the characters, from the well-known Greek heroes to the mostly-forgotten women who live with them, are beautifully portrayed and explored, and I really enjoyed seeing them interact in new ways. Briseis and the other women really take centre stage here, and they hold it perfectly, sharing their stories so that they will not be forgotten, and in so doing remembering all the women whose voices were taken away.

Although I mostly found this an interesting and gripping new take on an old classic, there were a few times when the pacing of the book fell a bit flat for me and it felt somewhat repetitive, especially in some parts describing camp life. I was also not too keen on how much focus was on Achilles at one point - we got enough of that elsewhere, and I just didn't feel the need for it here. This book also openly discusses violence of various kinds and rape, which might be triggering to some people.

Overall, The Silence of the Girls was an excellent retelling, giving us some insight in the life of the voiceless and forgotten. Ultimately, it is a tale of resilience and resistance, in whichever way that may be possible, and the real, human effects of war once the glamour and glory are removed.

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
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In this novel Barker retells the legend of the Trojan War from the perspective of Briseis, a young woman from a royal family now war prize belonging to Achilles. Overall, I have mixed feelings about the book. Its promise is a story from women's perspectives and, while a good chunk was first-person Briseis, a disappointing number of scenes were narrated by an omniscient third person in order to reveal what the men were up to, which seemed unnecessary and occasionally threw me out of the story. I've read and enjoyed a fair number of retellings from Ancient Greece, and overall found this lacking in charm and kind of forgettable. ( )