Book Review - The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Hello much neglected blog readers. I realised that it's ages since I did a book review and I've read some cracking stuff lately so I'm popping a quick review of the book I finished last night up here. Hope you enjoy it.

Who doesn't know the story of the siege of Troy and the beautiful Helen? It's a tale that we were told as kids and we've also probably seen a film or two about it. Some of us may even have read The Iliad - most probably in translation. I read it a few years ago and found it hard work, so many strange names and so many lists of terrible ways to die. But it's a compelling tale of love, lust and power so I guess that's why it's lasted through the centuries.

Pat Barker tells the story from the point of view of the women. But not the powerful and beautiful women, although some of them used to be like that. This is the tale of the women who are captured and enslaved by the Greek army as they besiege Troy. The protagonist is Briseis, who was a kings daughter and married into royalty before the Greeks overthrew her home . She was given as a 'prize' to Achilles, the great Greek hero of The Iliad. We learn of her life among the other enslaved women, how they serve their captors and watch as their homes burn. We see the great Greek heroes through her eyes and they don't often look very heroic.

We also see things from the perspective of Achilles who lives to fight, lets his pride rule his head and loses all he loves as a result of his stubborn decisions. He's not a likable character but it is easy to see that things turn out they way they do for him because of circumstances beyond his control. For this is a world ruled by gods, fate and destiny. Achilles knows his fate and seems powerless to change it, in fact he doesn't seem to want to even if it means losing the one mortal he loves.

There are some gritty descriptions of the brutality of war both on and off the battlefield and there are tender moments that brought a tear to my eye. Pat Barker's style is very readable and I loved that as a contrast to the rather lofty translation of The Iliad I read previously. She keeps the pace going and I was eager to find out what happened next despite it being and old, well told story. I have yet not read anything else by her but will certainly look at her previous work and see what other tales she has to tell.