Elektra: The mesmerising story of Troy from the three women its heart

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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. Each main character of this book is very well narrated by Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood and Julie Teal.

She then spends the next 10 years planning to murder her husband when he comes home from Mycenae and see her trying to hold power in court. The depiction of the impact of the war was also sensitively told, highlighting both the emotional toil along with the impact of ‘glorious’ propaganda in a way that comments not only on Troy but resonates with a modern audience. For lovers of Greek Mythology, it is wonderful to see the world from the eyes and perspective of these women. I’ve heard the most about The Women of Troy, but she’s written The Silence of the Girls as well, which is about Briseis (the woman that Agamemnon and Achilles squabble over).Firstly, I absolutely adored this book, even more than Ariadne, but then I’m not surprised as in this novel Saint tackles some of my favourite mythological women and one of my favourite cycles. Admittedly, I didn't particularly like Elektra, as a person, but her story was just as interesting to me as the others'.

I have always seen Clytemnestra as a victim, Agamemnon as a monster, and so this version of the story appealed to me. It was also not the lack of "magic" (the only supernatural thing was Apollo spitting into Cassandra's mouth). How does one get to the point where the murder of your own mother seems not only reasonable but morally necessary? Unlike Ariadne who I wished took more control, the women in Elektra took decisive actions that forever changed the course of their story. and, because of that, i think i now prefer reimaginings, rather than faithful retellings, which is what this book is.Or perhaps it is more appropriate to say I never could figure out why she couldn’t provide a reasonable voice to what she was seeing. The house of Atreus is cursed- through generations of murder, usurping’s of the throne of Mycenae, and cannabalism.