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

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Helen was painted in a light not so different from others': pretty, perfect, cunning Helen who could do no wrong. Each character was written with the utmost care, particularly the three main woman, in such a way that I was able to discern one's emotions and actions from one another early on in the story. Her storyline feels one-dimensional, with her only trait being her obsession with her father and how great he is. CassandraPrincess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it.

I was also impressed that Saint was able to include such a long span of time in just one book, and then make it flow naturally. Thank you Netgalley and Headline for sending me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae of the House of Atreus, mother of Iphigenia, Elektra and Orestes. 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.

It attempted to cover so much ground but none of it contained depth or was written in a way that made me feel for any of the characters (ok a tiny bit for Clytemnestra). She dismisses the voices of other women, steadfastly refuses to take any action for herself beyond moping and grooming a man to commit murders for her, and has a blind devotion to her monstrous father that goes well beyond filial loyalty and dips dangerously close to incestuous/Oedipal obsession. I would feel so incredibly sad for Clytemnestra and then several pages later so frustrated with her. The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris.

Following the story of three different but interconnected women, Elektra takes an insightful look at the complex, rich, albeit sometimes tragic relationships between mother and daughter, as well as the devastation of war on both sides of the battle. The characters in this book weren't characters: they were symbols and shadows meant to convey a murky higher message.Maybe this was originally a short(er) story but the publisher wanted a higher page count from the author after her previous success. A bloodline long-tainted by the damning cycle of generational violence and vengeance tarnishes this House. I would not hesitate to recommend this to those with a fondness for feminist retellings of stories from the Greek myths. A few description of the weather, the palace pillars, palace floors, maybe people around them, and tada, scene's done.

I was looking forward to this because I've read the Sophocles and am familiar with the whole Freudian aspect from within Psychology and frankly, it was just nicely MESSED up as a tragedy. If he did it to indeed help his brother or because Troy was so rich and he wanted the spoils as well as the fame, we'll also never know for sure. So when you put the two things together, a good chunk of the latter part of this book felt like a trudge, without the spark of something new and exciting to engage the reader. It was competent enough, and as I was reading it, at least through the halfway point, I kept thinking it was OKAY, assiduously so, but something was bothering me. The biggest sin Elektra commits is making me wish I were reading a version of the story with a more traditional focus.

I mean I’m putting a spoiler up but does it count as a spoiler when these poems and plays have been around for over 2000 years? 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.

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