Pat Barker’s retelling of Homer’s Iliad from a female perspective proves a surprisingly marmite read. The Silence of the Girls was shortlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize and received widespread critical praise but what did Kate’s book club think?
Our narrator is Briseis, a Trojan queen who witnesses the destruction of her city at the hands of the Greeks. Captured, she becomes a slave to Achilles, and must live out her part in the epic story that follows. Her perspective, and that of the other women in the camps, gives a shocking new dynamic to this age-old story.
To discuss it, Kate was joined by an old schoolfriend but will their relationship withstand two very different reading experiences?
Book recommendations
Every episode we come up with reading recommendations for your next read. This episode we suggest:
- Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
- Regeneration by Pat Barker
Notes
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