The Women of Troy

In a novel filled with names from legend, Briseis stands tall as a heroine: brave, smart and loyal. Barker's latest is a wonder.

Publisher's Weekly

The reimagining of mythological epics is certainly having a moment (think, Circe and Song of Achilles), but renowned British writer Pat Barker's The Women of Troy stands apart. Barker has already written about Briseis before, in the excellent The Silence of the Girls, and this continuation of the Trojan woman's story feels like another victory for every person who was silenced by history, their story stolen from them.

Refinery 29

a stirring adventure set amid a misogynist dystopia

Anthony Cummins, The Observer

Barker is at her best when she evokes Hecuba's grief on the shore, surrounded by a group of female slaves with the ruined city behind them...

TLS

As a novelist, Barker has always looked on the world with the combination of a cold eye and a sympathetic understanding. Her characterisation is sharp, her sympathy deep. She extends it even to the often brutal men. Her overall achievement is to have taken one of the great myths of European history, something that has permeated Western culture for 3,000 years, and made something new and immediate of it.

i

I'd still rather read Barker's take on the gruesome realities and costs of war - ancient or modern - than any other novelist out there.

The Daily Telegraph

Merciless, stripped of consoling beauty, impressively bleak.

The Guardian

This is a powerful page-turner, bringing ancient characters and stories into full colour. Skip Homer, and just enjoy this epic read

Daily Express

Briseis . . . returns again in this rich, readable sequel . . . Barker brings to life the mythical Trojan women.

New Statesman