First through Agamemnon’s marriage to Clytemnestra; then his daughter Elektra; and then his slave and captive, Cassandra. The story of Troy is fascinating and for those that want to know more of it, this books packs a lot into one novel, although it focuses on the women rather than the main characters like Achilles. Jennifer Saint also wrote the death of Iphigenia with so much sadness from the point of view of Clytemnestra, that you are grieving with her (this is the scene that made me cry).

If like me you read those war tidbits and thought, there’s the real story… read Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. First, the positives: Saint's interpretation of Clytemnestra is, by far, the best modern interpreration to date (imo).If the whole book had been as powerful as Clytemnestra’s sections, I likely would have been satisfied.

Helen was painted in a light not so different from others': pretty, perfect, cunning Helen who could do no wrong.In this, it's mostly a whimper and daddy worship and mommy hating her husband and taking a lover and then going "Oh, My" when crap hits the fan. Her drowning, never-ending grief was portrayed so well, her fierce love for her children felt so tangible that it felt like *I* lost people beloved to me as well. After the battle of Troy, Agamemnon (who let’s face it, we all dislike very much) claims her as his war prize and takes her back to Mycenae like the absolute dick he is. If I were Jennifer Saint’s editor, I honestly might’ve asked her what the novel would look like with Cassandra and Elektra’s POV cut entirely; it might not have worked, but I think it would have been worth a try.

The only issue I have is that there have been many of retellings featuring Troy and Clytemnestra/Helen recently and so nothing particularly new came to light of me.The history of the family was full of brutal murder, adultery, monstrous ambition, and rather more cannibalism than one would expect. How does one get to the point where the murder of your own mother seems not only reasonable but morally necessary?

We read her terrible curse from Apollo as she refuses him to rape her (literally whenever Apollo appears on the scene in any myth you know someone will be sexually assaulted). Elektra, though, is a weird heroine for a supposedly feminist retelling because her whole role is to uphold the patriarchy. In the light of the rising sun, I prayed that my husband would survive this war and come home safe to me. In the end, the stories of each of the women and the build up of all the pieces kept me thoroughly engaged.Her perspective quickly becomes whiny and repetitive, and I could feel my eyes rolling around in my head whenever it's her turn.