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Elektra: No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller from the Author of ARIADNE

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This was quite the re-telling. Told from three very different women's point of view. A Mother, and two daughters. Two princesses and a Queen. Defined by their titles, looked down upon for their gender. It was powerful, unkind and rich in myth. Just like any re-telling should be. I felt a little victory in having prompted him to reply. A breeze rippled across the water, and I felt a yearning all at once for something I couldn’t name. So much was happening—weddings and war—and none of it involved me. “I know what Thyestes did,” I answered, “to your father and to you. How he stole your kingdom.” Don’t get me wrong I adore Greek mythology. My degree was in classical civilisations - so it meant this was a straight forward read, I knew who everyone was and what was going to happen.

Di certo il peggior retelling di mitologia greca che io abbia mai letto, tanto da convincermi a non leggerne ulteriori in futuro. Il debutto di Jennifer Saint, Ariadne, per quanto con i propri difetti, aveva dei pregi. Purtroppo, non ne ho trovati in Elektra. I have always wanted to grow up to be the woman he thought I would become, the woman I could have been, if only he had been able to stay. To live up to the name he gave me.”Cassandra was one of my favourites to read about. 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). How she’s tormented by visions and people choosing not to believe her- how she’s an outcast. Her inability be believed and stop Troy from destruction. Reading about Cassandra was probably my favourite. Nevertheless, I wanted to read this if only for my love of mythology and I am glad that I did despite this not being as good as the author's previous book. Clytemnestra, is Agamemnon’s wife, and the sister of Helen. She has waited ten long years plotting revenge on her husband. Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.

We all know the story, the curse of House of Atreus, fratricide, sacrificing daughter; a long war that began in the name of only one woman; and the prophecy for the seventh child of Queen Hecabe. Each of the three POC characters are deliciously complex, and the relationship between Elektra and Clytemnestra is brilliant. How does one get to the point where the murder of your own mother seems not only reasonable but morally necessary? Why would Elektra take her father’s ‘side’ after what he did to her sister? Why did Clytemnestra ‘let’ it all happen? The answers to these questions have no easy answer and are explored in all their grounded and tragic glory, adding human emotion and compassion to these women’s stories. While naturally, the women are not on the same side, never in the story is one the ‘bad guy’, each of them knows why they do what they do and narratively it makes sense. Inter-character relationships are at the heart of this story regardless of whether the characters are geographically together and Saint depicts them as difficult, conflicting, illogical, inspiring, desperate and rejuvenating all at once, whether it is the relationship between Clytemnestra and Elektra, Elektra and Agamemnon, Clytemnestra and her sister Helen (a character who is dealt with superbly), Cassandra and Helen or even Clytemnestra and Cassandra. Across the seas, Cassandra is a princess with the gift of foresight but, cursed by Apollo, nobody believes her when she tries to warn them of the future. She knows that Paris will bring ruin on her people, that her city will eventually fall, but she can’t stop the events already in motion. Elektra feels equally powerless. Growing up with the father she adores fighting a war in a foreign land, she lives for his triumphant return. In his absence, Agamemnon becomes a god-like figure and it pits Elektra against her mother. Elektra knows that Clytemnestra is plotting something terrible, she just doesn’t know what. As the war rages on, the ferocity building on both sides, Elektra becomes consumed by her own rage, turning it on the one person who always tried to protect her.Elekra, Clytemnestra and Agamemnon's daughter, blinded by love. She can't understand that the God's are cruel, that maybe her father was wrong for all he did, and clouded by grief over his loss, her life becomes tainted with ending her mother's. A daughter's grief.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything. Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy and Hecabe , blessed with prophetic vision that nobody believes, her warnings and pleas fall on deaf ears as Troy falls. It is about the effect and consequences the Trojan War has on these women. How it affects them and their lives personally, during and after the war. Our father, Tyndareus, wrung his hands. The day had started out so promisingly for him; our storerooms overflowed with the rich gifts each young man had brought to support his own cause. I had seen him gloat over the loot and the status this glorious day had brought him. Blithely, he had placed all of his confidence in the ability of our brawny brothers to protect us as they had always done, but I had to doubt even their proficiency against the number of men who had come here to win my sister today. I have to give a special mention to one chapter. The chapter depicting Iphigenia’s wedding was a masterpiece. Honestly, it would work as a short story in itself. Saint creates a sense of complete and utter dread that builds and builds until the truth is revealed. I knew what was going to happen but my heart was in my mouth regardless. The writing was beautiful and sensitive and just an absolute masterpiece of retelling classic stories. I would recommend this novel just for that chapter alone.

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I shook my head. “I’ve heard stories about the family. The same ones as you. The curse of their ancestors, fathers killing their sons and brothers turning on each other. It’s all in the past, though, isn’t it?” There was much of this that I loved- Jennifer Saint has wrote another fantastic retelling and I enjoyed how certain aspects she’s twisted to suit her own narrative. I especially love her inclusion of the Erinyes as they are my favourite! For lovers of Greek Mythology, it is wonderful to see the world from the eyes and perspective of these women. Feel their pain, and experience their anger, their lust for revenge, their tragic painful loss. Mind you, this is a messed up tragedy that even gets the furies involved, but most of that is AFTER the war is won.

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