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The Memoirs of Helen of Troy: A Novel
In this lush, compelling novel of passion and loss, Helen of Troy, a true survivor, tells the truth about her life, her lovers, and the Trojan War. This is the memoir that she has written—her legendary beauty still undimmed by age.
Gossips began whispering about Princess Helen from the moment of her birth. A daughter of the royal house of Sparta, she was not truly the progeny of King Tyndareus, they murmured, but of Zeus, king of the gods. Her mother, Queen Leda, a powerful priestess, was branded an adulteress, with tragic consequences. To complicate matters, as Helen grew to adulthood her beauty was so breathtaking that it overshadowed even that of her jealous sister, Clytemnestra, making her even more of an outcast within her own family. So it came as something of a relief to her when she was kidnapped by Theseus, king of Athens, in a gambit to replenish his kingdom’s coffers.
But Helen fell in love with the much older Theseus, and to his surprise, he found himself enamored of her as well. On her forced return to Sparta, Helen was hastily married off to the tepid Menelaus for the sake of an advantageous political alliance. Yet even after years of marriage, the spirited, passionate Helen never became the docile wife King Menelaus desired, and when she fell in love with another man—Paris Alexandros, the prodigal son of King Priam of Troy—Helen unwittingly set the stage for the ultimate a war that would destroy nearly all she held dear.
I learned that I was different when I was a very small when the golden curls, which barely reached my shoulders at the time, began to turn the color of burnished vermeil. Your grandmother Leda, whom you never knew, told me that I was a child of Zeus. Since I thought my father’s name was Tyndareus, her words upset me. Seeing my pink cheeks marred by tears of confusion, my mother handed me a mirror of polished bronze and asked me to study my reflection.
“Do you look like me?” she asked.
I nodded, noting in my own skin the exquisite fairness of her complexion, and her hair the same shade as mine that tumbled like flowing honey past the hollow of her back.
“And do you resemble my husband Tyndareus?” she said to me.
I looked in the mirror and then looked again. For several minutes I remember expecting the mirror to show me my father’s face, but Tyndareus was olive complected where I was not, his nose like the beak of a falcon where my own was straight and fine-boned, and his cheekbones were hollow and slack where, even then, beneath a child’s rosy plumpness, mine were high and prominent.
“It’s time for me to tell you everything,” my mother said . . .
—From The Memoirs of Helen of Troy
Gossips began whispering about Princess Helen from the moment of her birth. A daughter of the royal house of Sparta, she was not truly the progeny of King Tyndareus, they murmured, but of Zeus, king of the gods. Her mother, Queen Leda, a powerful priestess, was branded an adulteress, with tragic consequences. To complicate matters, as Helen grew to adulthood her beauty was so breathtaking that it overshadowed even that of her jealous sister, Clytemnestra, making her even more of an outcast within her own family. So it came as something of a relief to her when she was kidnapped by Theseus, king of Athens, in a gambit to replenish his kingdom’s coffers.
But Helen fell in love with the much older Theseus, and to his surprise, he found himself enamored of her as well. On her forced return to Sparta, Helen was hastily married off to the tepid Menelaus for the sake of an advantageous political alliance. Yet even after years of marriage, the spirited, passionate Helen never became the docile wife King Menelaus desired, and when she fell in love with another man—Paris Alexandros, the prodigal son of King Priam of Troy—Helen unwittingly set the stage for the ultimate a war that would destroy nearly all she held dear.
I learned that I was different when I was a very small when the golden curls, which barely reached my shoulders at the time, began to turn the color of burnished vermeil. Your grandmother Leda, whom you never knew, told me that I was a child of Zeus. Since I thought my father’s name was Tyndareus, her words upset me. Seeing my pink cheeks marred by tears of confusion, my mother handed me a mirror of polished bronze and asked me to study my reflection.
“Do you look like me?” she asked.
I nodded, noting in my own skin the exquisite fairness of her complexion, and her hair the same shade as mine that tumbled like flowing honey past the hollow of her back.
“And do you resemble my husband Tyndareus?” she said to me.
I looked in the mirror and then looked again. For several minutes I remember expecting the mirror to show me my father’s face, but Tyndareus was olive complected where I was not, his nose like the beak of a falcon where my own was straight and fine-boned, and his cheekbones were hollow and slack where, even then, beneath a child’s rosy plumpness, mine were high and prominent.
“It’s time for me to tell you everything,” my mother said . . .
—From The Memoirs of Helen of Troy
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2005
32 people are currently reading
2935 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Elyot
6 books19 followersAlso, Leslie Carroll
I was born and raised in New York City, attended the Fieldston School in Riverdale, and received my Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. I began writing novels in 1998 while I was working three survival jobs simultaneously and struggling to have a career as a working actress. Over the years I slogged away in dreary day jobs in such diverse fields as politics, advertising, public relations, law, and journalism. Finally, in 2003 I was able to become a fulltime author, and I’m still acting professionally as long as the script, the role, and the talent of the people involved are feeding my soul.
My first novel was published in March, 2002. To date I have had seven works of contemporary women’s fiction published under my own name. I have also published four works of historical fiction under the pen name Amanda Elyot.
In June, 2008, I’ll make my nonfiction debut with a book about the sex lives of the English sovereigns, titled ROYAL AFFAIRS: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures that Rocked the British Monarchy.
As Leslie Sara Carroll, I have played virgins, vixens, and villainesses on the in New York stage and in regional theatre and have appeared in commercials, on voiceovers and talking books, and daytime dramas. My classical repertoire includes the leading ladies of Shakespeare, Molière, Coward, Wilde, and a staggering number of Shavian heroines. Not merely confining my performances to the canons of dead playwrights, I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to read and perform new plays by Meir Z. Ribalow, Arthur Giron, Cassandra Medley, James McLure, Jack Heifner, Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday, and National Book Award winner Denis Johnson, among others, as part of two play-development units: New River Dramatists in Healing Springs, NC, and the Playwrights Workshop, at The Players, a renowned theatre and literary social club on New York's Gramercy Park. I am a third-generation member of The Players.
Under the auspices of Survivor Productions, a not-for-profit professional theatre company that I founded in 1989, I produced several seasons of "neglected" plays of the 19th century. I am also the author of three stage adaptations of 19th century/early 20th century English novels: Ivanhoe, The Prisoner of Zenda, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The first two plays received successful professional productions in New York City; Zenda was a finalist at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival. Additionally, I dramatized The Diaries of Adam and Eve, based upon the humorous writing of Mark Twain, which received its premiere at The Players club (of which Twain was a founding member).
Among many other published journalistic pieces, I have written articles on intellectual property rights as they affect directors and dramaturgs, "How to Start a Non-Profit Theatre Company," and "How to Build and Maintain an Audience," for Back Stage, New York's leading trade paper for the Theatre professional, where, as Associate Editor, I wrote and edited theatre industry news and features. I am a member of the Authors Guild and the national chapter of Romance Writers of America.
After spending decades surrounded by hundreds of books, needlework, family mementos, and a plethora of romantic pre-Raphaelite prints in a rambling pre-war apartment I once shared with her grandmother, I moved uptown and now live with my husband on Manhattan's Upper West Side. With Scott by my side, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, and a walk-in closet—I’m in heaven!
I was born and raised in New York City, attended the Fieldston School in Riverdale, and received my Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. I began writing novels in 1998 while I was working three survival jobs simultaneously and struggling to have a career as a working actress. Over the years I slogged away in dreary day jobs in such diverse fields as politics, advertising, public relations, law, and journalism. Finally, in 2003 I was able to become a fulltime author, and I’m still acting professionally as long as the script, the role, and the talent of the people involved are feeding my soul.
My first novel was published in March, 2002. To date I have had seven works of contemporary women’s fiction published under my own name. I have also published four works of historical fiction under the pen name Amanda Elyot.
In June, 2008, I’ll make my nonfiction debut with a book about the sex lives of the English sovereigns, titled ROYAL AFFAIRS: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures that Rocked the British Monarchy.
As Leslie Sara Carroll, I have played virgins, vixens, and villainesses on the in New York stage and in regional theatre and have appeared in commercials, on voiceovers and talking books, and daytime dramas. My classical repertoire includes the leading ladies of Shakespeare, Molière, Coward, Wilde, and a staggering number of Shavian heroines. Not merely confining my performances to the canons of dead playwrights, I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to read and perform new plays by Meir Z. Ribalow, Arthur Giron, Cassandra Medley, James McLure, Jack Heifner, Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday, and National Book Award winner Denis Johnson, among others, as part of two play-development units: New River Dramatists in Healing Springs, NC, and the Playwrights Workshop, at The Players, a renowned theatre and literary social club on New York's Gramercy Park. I am a third-generation member of The Players.
Under the auspices of Survivor Productions, a not-for-profit professional theatre company that I founded in 1989, I produced several seasons of "neglected" plays of the 19th century. I am also the author of three stage adaptations of 19th century/early 20th century English novels: Ivanhoe, The Prisoner of Zenda, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The first two plays received successful professional productions in New York City; Zenda was a finalist at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival. Additionally, I dramatized The Diaries of Adam and Eve, based upon the humorous writing of Mark Twain, which received its premiere at The Players club (of which Twain was a founding member).
Among many other published journalistic pieces, I have written articles on intellectual property rights as they affect directors and dramaturgs, "How to Start a Non-Profit Theatre Company," and "How to Build and Maintain an Audience," for Back Stage, New York's leading trade paper for the Theatre professional, where, as Associate Editor, I wrote and edited theatre industry news and features. I am a member of the Authors Guild and the national chapter of Romance Writers of America.
After spending decades surrounded by hundreds of books, needlework, family mementos, and a plethora of romantic pre-Raphaelite prints in a rambling pre-war apartment I once shared with her grandmother, I moved uptown and now live with my husband on Manhattan's Upper West Side. With Scott by my side, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, and a walk-in closet—I’m in heaven!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
November 28, 2018
The story of Helen has been around at least since Homer wrote the "Iliad". Her beauty caused its fair share of problems in her day. Her beautiful face did cause a war after all. But is her beauty her fault? Can we blame an entire war on just one lovely face? Have mythology, history, art, and literature really been fair to her?
I wanted a retelling that will make Helen more real and, to an extent, relatable. I admit it's my fault for expecting too much from "The Memoirs of Helen of Troy". I might have enjoyed Amanda Elyot's novel more if she had scrapped the trappings of historical accuracy and just played it to the steamy romance she was pretending not to write. I felt like it's trying to be smart but inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and anachronisms abound in this book. I'll spare you the details, it's easier to count the few things right than to enumerate the multitude of mistakes. I actually wouldn't have minded at all if Helen is a compelling character, but this version would never have inspired even a fist-fight, let alone a war.
Here, Helen is a conceited airhead who tells you how beautiful she is about once every three pages, in case you forget. When she isn't trumpeting her charms, she's wallowing in self-pity. Everyone is jealous of her, her family is mean to her, the Trojan women don't like her... cry me a river! In spite of the feminist trappings, she has no life of her own and is totally passive and dependent on men for all her emotions, although the men are interchangeable to her. Her many children are only names and she seems unaware of them. Elyot has actually shaped the events of her character's life so that everything really is all about her.
The book was a disappointment from start to finish -- but if you are interested to read a story about a woman who calls herself beautiful non-stop and proves how vain she is, by all means, read it.
I wanted a retelling that will make Helen more real and, to an extent, relatable. I admit it's my fault for expecting too much from "The Memoirs of Helen of Troy". I might have enjoyed Amanda Elyot's novel more if she had scrapped the trappings of historical accuracy and just played it to the steamy romance she was pretending not to write. I felt like it's trying to be smart but inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and anachronisms abound in this book. I'll spare you the details, it's easier to count the few things right than to enumerate the multitude of mistakes. I actually wouldn't have minded at all if Helen is a compelling character, but this version would never have inspired even a fist-fight, let alone a war.
Here, Helen is a conceited airhead who tells you how beautiful she is about once every three pages, in case you forget. When she isn't trumpeting her charms, she's wallowing in self-pity. Everyone is jealous of her, her family is mean to her, the Trojan women don't like her... cry me a river! In spite of the feminist trappings, she has no life of her own and is totally passive and dependent on men for all her emotions, although the men are interchangeable to her. Her many children are only names and she seems unaware of them. Elyot has actually shaped the events of her character's life so that everything really is all about her.
The book was a disappointment from start to finish -- but if you are interested to read a story about a woman who calls herself beautiful non-stop and proves how vain she is, by all means, read it.
August 7, 2017
2.5-rounded down.
I was pumped up for this novel, a chance to see the Trojan War from Helen’s point of view. What did she believe really happened? Was she abducted or did she go willingly? Was she happy being the most beautiful woman in the world or was that a curse for her? Did she love any of these men, and if so which one and why? What does one do when the gods themselves conspire against you? What I got was some implausible answers and a bit of a disappointment.
One of the difficulties of this book, for me, was that Elyot couldn’t seem to make up her own mind about how Helen felt or what was happening. She wavered between describing the gods as something created in the image of a man and something all-powerful that directed the lives of men. Imaginary or real? You have to decide they are one or the other and you definitely have to make your main character believe or disbelieve. Helen seems to believe when it is convenient (OK, I know some modern day Christians I could say that about), but it matters if you are billing this character as the illegitimate daughter of Zeus.
There is the same ambivalence about Helen’s feelings for her husband, Menelaus. He is given almost a split personality, which veers to too evil in his evil moments and inexplicable in his softer ones. It is no easy task to take a well-known personage, such as Helen of Troy, and make them seem new while at the same time being consistent with the history. I have seen it done, but Elyot misses the mark for me.
Finally, Helen is seen to adore her children but also to desert them almost thoughtlessly. You really cannot have both. Her reasons for her actions were almost always explained with sex, but sex only explains some of the urges in life and those are generally fleeting. I like to think that a mother’s love might trump her desires. If her desires are her driving force, then she must be painted as a negligible mother. You can’t have everything both ways.
In short, this book that should have everything: love, hate, war, jealousy, immortality and history, has nothing. I will stick with Homer and Virgil.
I was pumped up for this novel, a chance to see the Trojan War from Helen’s point of view. What did she believe really happened? Was she abducted or did she go willingly? Was she happy being the most beautiful woman in the world or was that a curse for her? Did she love any of these men, and if so which one and why? What does one do when the gods themselves conspire against you? What I got was some implausible answers and a bit of a disappointment.
One of the difficulties of this book, for me, was that Elyot couldn’t seem to make up her own mind about how Helen felt or what was happening. She wavered between describing the gods as something created in the image of a man and something all-powerful that directed the lives of men. Imaginary or real? You have to decide they are one or the other and you definitely have to make your main character believe or disbelieve. Helen seems to believe when it is convenient (OK, I know some modern day Christians I could say that about), but it matters if you are billing this character as the illegitimate daughter of Zeus.
There is the same ambivalence about Helen’s feelings for her husband, Menelaus. He is given almost a split personality, which veers to too evil in his evil moments and inexplicable in his softer ones. It is no easy task to take a well-known personage, such as Helen of Troy, and make them seem new while at the same time being consistent with the history. I have seen it done, but Elyot misses the mark for me.
Finally, Helen is seen to adore her children but also to desert them almost thoughtlessly. You really cannot have both. Her reasons for her actions were almost always explained with sex, but sex only explains some of the urges in life and those are generally fleeting. I like to think that a mother’s love might trump her desires. If her desires are her driving force, then she must be painted as a negligible mother. You can’t have everything both ways.
In short, this book that should have everything: love, hate, war, jealousy, immortality and history, has nothing. I will stick with Homer and Virgil.
December 30, 2011
I admit to originally being very interested in this book because of the idea that Helen of Troy would tell us the tale from her perspective. One very rarely sees the story of Troy's fall from Helen's perspective. Of course, Elyot took liberties as many fiction writers do but for the most part stuck to the story portrayed in The Illiad only from Helen's perspective.
As the book starts, Helen has decided to writer her memoirs for her daughter Hermione. It is clear that Hermione doesn't care for her mother because of her abandonment of her husband (Menelaus) and her children (which includes Hermione) when she fled to Troy with Paris. Helen then proceeds to tell us what life was like as a child with a sister like Clytemnestra, who according to Helen was jealous and vicious towards her.
We also learn of Clytemnestra's first marriage and then her fate of becoming Agamemnon's wife after he kills her husband and children. It continues to be a tragic story up until the end when a much lighter spin is put on the relationship between Menelaus and Helen.
I have always been interested in The Odyssey and The Illiad and other tellings of mythology so this was a book I felt sure I would take too. However, I felt that Elyot's telling of Helen's tale at times boring. In getting detail semi-accurate she often described things that were less important to the story than the actual events being portrayed. While normally, this would be praise, I felt all details of the surrounding area wasn't always necessary as at times it had been told to us prior.
I've also never had great sympathy for Paris and despite Helen's seeming love for Paris Elyot made it evident that Paris wasn't nearly the man his brother Hector was all the while portraying him as slightly stronger than I think the Paris of mythology is supposed to be.
Overall the story wasn't bad but I wouldn't say it was the best tale. The most interesting aspect is that Helen is supposed to be the one portraying the story and even through her time with Paris it is evident in this story that her true love was Theseus. Of course, this seems to be a liberty taken on Elyot's part, though admittedly one of the more enjoyable aspects of the story.
If you're truly a fan of mythological tails this might be a good one to add to your reading material, but I doubt it if for the light reader.
As the book starts, Helen has decided to writer her memoirs for her daughter Hermione. It is clear that Hermione doesn't care for her mother because of her abandonment of her husband (Menelaus) and her children (which includes Hermione) when she fled to Troy with Paris. Helen then proceeds to tell us what life was like as a child with a sister like Clytemnestra, who according to Helen was jealous and vicious towards her.
We also learn of Clytemnestra's first marriage and then her fate of becoming Agamemnon's wife after he kills her husband and children. It continues to be a tragic story up until the end when a much lighter spin is put on the relationship between Menelaus and Helen.
I have always been interested in The Odyssey and The Illiad and other tellings of mythology so this was a book I felt sure I would take too. However, I felt that Elyot's telling of Helen's tale at times boring. In getting detail semi-accurate she often described things that were less important to the story than the actual events being portrayed. While normally, this would be praise, I felt all details of the surrounding area wasn't always necessary as at times it had been told to us prior.
I've also never had great sympathy for Paris and despite Helen's seeming love for Paris Elyot made it evident that Paris wasn't nearly the man his brother Hector was all the while portraying him as slightly stronger than I think the Paris of mythology is supposed to be.
Overall the story wasn't bad but I wouldn't say it was the best tale. The most interesting aspect is that Helen is supposed to be the one portraying the story and even through her time with Paris it is evident in this story that her true love was Theseus. Of course, this seems to be a liberty taken on Elyot's part, though admittedly one of the more enjoyable aspects of the story.
If you're truly a fan of mythological tails this might be a good one to add to your reading material, but I doubt it if for the light reader.
October 14, 2015
This novel was not to my taste! Sometimes too melodramatic, sometimes saccharine and much too filled with sex scenes, badly written at that. It was too much of a departure from the Trojan War story for me. I think people would be much better off reading the original Iliad and Odyssey. Helen made herself the center of the world; self-absorbed and bragging how SHE influenced the main incidents of the war--e.g., only through her submitting to Achilles was Priam able to recover Hector's body; SHE influenced the Achilles heel incident.
Only for those who are interested in all retellings of Helen's story, no matter how far-fetched.
Only for those who are interested in all retellings of Helen's story, no matter how far-fetched.
June 10, 2010
One of the things that any seasoned lover of historical fiction knows is that the history of a tale holds just as much importance as the way the story itself is told. In Amanda Elyot’s book “The Memoirs of Helen of Troy”, we get an engaging tale right from the start. We also get a lot of history- some events we know about, and others are new to us. While this era of history is not my specialty, Elyot informs us of her research at the end, and lets us know that where there are questions on accuracy, she went with the most widely accepted version of events. This adds a perspective to the end of the book so that we can also decide to read into the history ourselves (although a source list is
not provided).
The story is told in first person by Helen of Troy- they are the memoirs of her life written to her daughter, Hermione (who she was never close to). While the tale is superficially about the great loves of Helen’s life, and her great beauty (that many believed even started a war), it is at its heart a question of whether our actions are pre-destined or if we have free will and choice. Was Helen destined to act as she did (leaving her children and arranged marriage to
follow her heart) or was (as her lover, Paris Alexandros claimed) she destined to fall in love with him?
In fact, destiny was central to this time period- people in ancient times believed in multiple gods, and Zeus was the supreme god ruling from Mount Olympus. There were seers and prophesies, and Helen even alludes to the politics this can bring about by saying some prophesies could even be purchased. Indeed, her knowledge of politics surpasses that of most women of the time (having been schooled by Theseus), and she sticks to her assertion that while she is claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, wars are most certainly not waged over a lone woman- there is always an ulterior motive.
By the end of the novel, we come to know Helen of Troy, and Elyot’s ideas for the motivations behind her actions. I would have liked to see more of Helen’s interaction with her children and love for them, since at the end it’s a lesson meant for Hermione. Nevertheless, it is an interesting tale of love and hate and revenge, and held me captive (much as Helen was), until the end.
not provided).
The story is told in first person by Helen of Troy- they are the memoirs of her life written to her daughter, Hermione (who she was never close to). While the tale is superficially about the great loves of Helen’s life, and her great beauty (that many believed even started a war), it is at its heart a question of whether our actions are pre-destined or if we have free will and choice. Was Helen destined to act as she did (leaving her children and arranged marriage to
follow her heart) or was (as her lover, Paris Alexandros claimed) she destined to fall in love with him?
In fact, destiny was central to this time period- people in ancient times believed in multiple gods, and Zeus was the supreme god ruling from Mount Olympus. There were seers and prophesies, and Helen even alludes to the politics this can bring about by saying some prophesies could even be purchased. Indeed, her knowledge of politics surpasses that of most women of the time (having been schooled by Theseus), and she sticks to her assertion that while she is claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, wars are most certainly not waged over a lone woman- there is always an ulterior motive.
By the end of the novel, we come to know Helen of Troy, and Elyot’s ideas for the motivations behind her actions. I would have liked to see more of Helen’s interaction with her children and love for them, since at the end it’s a lesson meant for Hermione. Nevertheless, it is an interesting tale of love and hate and revenge, and held me captive (much as Helen was), until the end.
May 30, 2007
If I had absolutely nothing else to read, this book would be fine. But I have other books on my stack, and their library due date is too quickly approaching, so I didn't even bother to finish this one.
June 27, 2010
Sucks. Might as well read Wikipedia or Cliff Notes.
May 20, 2011
As Linda Lael Miller said, this book is "luminously intelligent, beautifully written, a delightful blend of magic and mythos".
This book has ensnared me the moment i began with the prologue. Seriously this book is good. Cool classic english:D It can capture the attention of teenager like me and adults with a love for myths and legends, a little action and a mighty lot of love for romance; This book encompasses al my favourite features a book can have. For me, i like books that are set in fictitious worlds(tho this one's not fake...just..well..not here in the present world) with a little romance sprinkled in. If you're like me, you'll love this phenomenon of a book.
To me, Helen's beauty has sort of been the cause of her miseries in her gloriously eventful life. Her beauty and her regal lineage was the reason why her sister, Clytemnestra, and her friends ostrascized and excluded her; Her beauty was the cause of her being kidnapped by Theseus when she was only thirteen(i think..or 14?), which had led to her first heartbreak, and things like that. I can't really remember now that i've finished the book(cause this book is like cramped with so much info, i'm suffering from info-overload:/), but i distinctly had the impression that it caused her a lot of pain.
Anyway, Helen's like hadn't been a breeze at all even in childhood. Her father, King Tyndareus of Sparta, shunned her away because he felt betrayed by Queen Leda for having made love with Zeus when she didn't really have a choice. After which Leda hanged herself when Helen was only eight, and Leda was the only one that cared for her in earnest all her life, and now she was gone. She only had a friend because the rest of hte girls thought her a bastard child, and as i've said, she was kidnapped when she was 13/14, forced to leave Theseus when she was starting to fall in love with him, then forced into an arranged marriage to Menelaus of Mycenae.
I feel so wronged for Helen after reading this book. It gave me this whole new perspective of how the Trojan war had started, something like an alternative history. Many people believe and have thus despised Helen for causing the Trojan War to have ignited, but i don't agree. Helen was a victim of the Fates and the goddess Aphrodite, as much as her lover Paris Alexandros was, and as much as you and i. Helen's whole lofe was filled with so much sufferings and hate, yet all she ever wanted was to marry a man she loved and a happy marriage. Well, after meeting Paris, she finally experienced what true love was, but she couldn't marry him since she was already wife to Menelaus. But after much deliberations, she eloped with Paris. They were really and truly in love. However, stupid and barbaric people like King Agamemnon of Mycenae couldn't be satisfied with what wealth and power he already possessed and had set his eyes on Troy's Hellespont for years, so with the excuse(and i stress the word "EXCUSE") of the pride and honor of his brother, Menelaus, being sullied by Helen's infidelity, he launched an attack on Troy with the entire Aechaen archipelago(i have no idea what you call it actually) backing him up. So you see, it wasn't really Helen's fault. And anyway, way before Helen and Paris' meeting, the latter had this prophetic dream of Aphrodite saying that the most beautiful woman to have walked the earth would one day be his. Yes so i really advocate people to stop blaming Helen for what was not a deed done by her and was probably inevitable with or without her being the catalyst.
Anyhow, aside from all this depressing stuff, Amanda Elyot has just introduced to me a man that will forever be my ideal one- Prince Hector of Troy, beloved first son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba and heir to the Troyan throne. He is really one of the perfect-est man ever. Seriously, he's like the man for every woman. He is the Troyan's greatest and noblest warrior, he is the most devoted and loyal husband of Princess Andromache of Thebes(which is really, really rare as it is a customary practice for men then to have bedded many women), the best, most loving father i have ever heard and seen, the kindest friend and most caring and loving brother. He is perfect. Haha, for me anyway. Though my friends say it isn't right to fall in love with someone who is more than a hundred times older than me and dead, but i know he is very much alive(oh man this is cliche, but i'm gonna say it anyway) in my heart, and he has forever left his legacy in the Trojan War(being the bravest and kindest commander) and in the songs and poems of the bards:) And doesn't the saying goes, love transcends time or sth?haha. Usually in books, girls will like those male characters who are deep, quiet, brooding, reclusive, nice only to the girl he likes, those kind of stuff, well Hector is those fictitious characters come alive:)
Oh i am sort of amazed by how many ways Elyot can put across the word "sex". I can only remember 2 epic ones, one of them only vaguely because there were too many to track of. My favourite one was when Helen and Paris were in the bath right after Paris' and Menelaus' one-on-one combat nine years into the war:"...when i felt the greatest manifestation of his mortality pierce the soft flesh between my thighs...", and once:"...he worshipped my sex...". Cool, right(tho kinda disturbing)?
I was kinda shocked and really sad when Paris died(Big spoiler), especially the part where he was moaning for Oenone, who was his childhood lover, instead of Helen with his last gasps of life. Well, that was just plain tragic for Helen who was there.
Even tho Elyot said in her note that this story isn't real, i do believe that it really did happen. Well, there's the Trojan Horse if you want evidence, the prototype's in Troy now(i have no idea where's the real one). Like the Sky gods of Olympus, they will only exist if people believe in them. I do believe in that Hector, Helen, Paris, etc did roam this earth once and i do also believe that the Trojan War did happen, just like the Oddysey of Odyseus:)
This book has ensnared me the moment i began with the prologue. Seriously this book is good. Cool classic english:D It can capture the attention of teenager like me and adults with a love for myths and legends, a little action and a mighty lot of love for romance; This book encompasses al my favourite features a book can have. For me, i like books that are set in fictitious worlds(tho this one's not fake...just..well..not here in the present world) with a little romance sprinkled in. If you're like me, you'll love this phenomenon of a book.
To me, Helen's beauty has sort of been the cause of her miseries in her gloriously eventful life. Her beauty and her regal lineage was the reason why her sister, Clytemnestra, and her friends ostrascized and excluded her; Her beauty was the cause of her being kidnapped by Theseus when she was only thirteen(i think..or 14?), which had led to her first heartbreak, and things like that. I can't really remember now that i've finished the book(cause this book is like cramped with so much info, i'm suffering from info-overload:/), but i distinctly had the impression that it caused her a lot of pain.
Anyway, Helen's like hadn't been a breeze at all even in childhood. Her father, King Tyndareus of Sparta, shunned her away because he felt betrayed by Queen Leda for having made love with Zeus when she didn't really have a choice. After which Leda hanged herself when Helen was only eight, and Leda was the only one that cared for her in earnest all her life, and now she was gone. She only had a friend because the rest of hte girls thought her a bastard child, and as i've said, she was kidnapped when she was 13/14, forced to leave Theseus when she was starting to fall in love with him, then forced into an arranged marriage to Menelaus of Mycenae.
I feel so wronged for Helen after reading this book. It gave me this whole new perspective of how the Trojan war had started, something like an alternative history. Many people believe and have thus despised Helen for causing the Trojan War to have ignited, but i don't agree. Helen was a victim of the Fates and the goddess Aphrodite, as much as her lover Paris Alexandros was, and as much as you and i. Helen's whole lofe was filled with so much sufferings and hate, yet all she ever wanted was to marry a man she loved and a happy marriage. Well, after meeting Paris, she finally experienced what true love was, but she couldn't marry him since she was already wife to Menelaus. But after much deliberations, she eloped with Paris. They were really and truly in love. However, stupid and barbaric people like King Agamemnon of Mycenae couldn't be satisfied with what wealth and power he already possessed and had set his eyes on Troy's Hellespont for years, so with the excuse(and i stress the word "EXCUSE") of the pride and honor of his brother, Menelaus, being sullied by Helen's infidelity, he launched an attack on Troy with the entire Aechaen archipelago(i have no idea what you call it actually) backing him up. So you see, it wasn't really Helen's fault. And anyway, way before Helen and Paris' meeting, the latter had this prophetic dream of Aphrodite saying that the most beautiful woman to have walked the earth would one day be his. Yes so i really advocate people to stop blaming Helen for what was not a deed done by her and was probably inevitable with or without her being the catalyst.
Anyhow, aside from all this depressing stuff, Amanda Elyot has just introduced to me a man that will forever be my ideal one- Prince Hector of Troy, beloved first son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba and heir to the Troyan throne. He is really one of the perfect-est man ever. Seriously, he's like the man for every woman. He is the Troyan's greatest and noblest warrior, he is the most devoted and loyal husband of Princess Andromache of Thebes(which is really, really rare as it is a customary practice for men then to have bedded many women), the best, most loving father i have ever heard and seen, the kindest friend and most caring and loving brother. He is perfect. Haha, for me anyway. Though my friends say it isn't right to fall in love with someone who is more than a hundred times older than me and dead, but i know he is very much alive(oh man this is cliche, but i'm gonna say it anyway) in my heart, and he has forever left his legacy in the Trojan War(being the bravest and kindest commander) and in the songs and poems of the bards:) And doesn't the saying goes, love transcends time or sth?haha. Usually in books, girls will like those male characters who are deep, quiet, brooding, reclusive, nice only to the girl he likes, those kind of stuff, well Hector is those fictitious characters come alive:)
Oh i am sort of amazed by how many ways Elyot can put across the word "sex". I can only remember 2 epic ones, one of them only vaguely because there were too many to track of. My favourite one was when Helen and Paris were in the bath right after Paris' and Menelaus' one-on-one combat nine years into the war:"...when i felt the greatest manifestation of his mortality pierce the soft flesh between my thighs...", and once:"...he worshipped my sex...". Cool, right(tho kinda disturbing)?
I was kinda shocked and really sad when Paris died(Big spoiler), especially the part where he was moaning for Oenone, who was his childhood lover, instead of Helen with his last gasps of life. Well, that was just plain tragic for Helen who was there.
Even tho Elyot said in her note that this story isn't real, i do believe that it really did happen. Well, there's the Trojan Horse if you want evidence, the prototype's in Troy now(i have no idea where's the real one). Like the Sky gods of Olympus, they will only exist if people believe in them. I do believe in that Hector, Helen, Paris, etc did roam this earth once and i do also believe that the Trojan War did happen, just like the Oddysey of Odyseus:)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2010
This book was an amazing take on the motives of the Trojan War from an almost feminist perspective. The author unravels the origins of the Olympian gods, Greek myths and legends and how the men sought to undermine and demoralize women in every aspect of Greek society from religion to politics to family life. It also was a story of how love is everchanging and always brings both pain and wisdom. It was an amazing, unforgettable read. I cried for Helen and every woman who fought before me who has fought for the rights I enjoy so carefreely today.
April 6, 2009
Was this supposed to be ironic? A justification from a self-satisfied Helen of Troy, who bills herself as "pragmatic" while accepting herself as semi-divine and immortal, and who uses "fate" as an excuse to deny herself nothing, despite the consequences. Yuck.
October 9, 2010
The first half can accurately be called memoir (even in the fictional sense). The second half is another thing entirely, made of extremely boring battle scenes and play-by-play narrated by Helen. I can get 100 percent more reading pleasure from reading The Iliad and The Odyssey.
April 21, 2016
I hated this book. It cost me more than a month of reading time!
August 3, 2010
OH....this book was infinitely A M A Z I N G. I loved, from beginning to end. I felt like I was there, inside the story, from beginning to end. Good good book.
December 30, 2013
Η ιστορία της ωραίας Ελένης μέσα από ένα άλλο πρίσμα, μέσα από τη δική της ματιά.
October 31, 2023
"Your sufferings, my child, have never taught you wisdom." - Euripides, The Trojan Women
July 14, 2010
I love reading historical fiction but find its often hard to find interesting well-written books. I really enjoyed the first half of this novel. The author obviously did her research because many of the details regarding Mycenaean Greece are quite accurate. I liked that she included the abduction by Theseus and the birth of Iphigenia but I find it quite improbable that she would be able to keep a pregnancy hidden from most of her family. I also did'nt understand why she never saw her daughter again- Mycenae and Sparta were'nt seperated by an ocean! But then I found none of her children really played an important part in the novel, which is quite ironic because the narrative is supposedly written to Hermione.
The novel really lost me when Paris came into the picture. I just could'nt get into their love story which really should have been the focal point of the whole book. The time in Troy seemed rushed and Paris's family definitely was not as flushed out as Helen's was in the beginning. I also would have liked to hear more descriptions about the war. I guess I was spoiled by Homer in that regard. The story really needed to be two seperate books to fit everything in.
Finally I hated that the author went with the the myth of Helen and Menelaus in Egypt. I slogged through that part but barely.
Overall I would recommend it but was disappointed as it started out so well but then got poorer as it progressed. I did enjoy it more than some other Trojan novels I have read.
The novel really lost me when Paris came into the picture. I just could'nt get into their love story which really should have been the focal point of the whole book. The time in Troy seemed rushed and Paris's family definitely was not as flushed out as Helen's was in the beginning. I also would have liked to hear more descriptions about the war. I guess I was spoiled by Homer in that regard. The story really needed to be two seperate books to fit everything in.
Finally I hated that the author went with the the myth of Helen and Menelaus in Egypt. I slogged through that part but barely.
Overall I would recommend it but was disappointed as it started out so well but then got poorer as it progressed. I did enjoy it more than some other Trojan novels I have read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2018
An interesting topic that was somewhat well done? Some parts felt highly fleshed out and let you live it along with Helen, and others felt rushed. Like Ohwellwarisoverlet’sgohomeandpretenditneverhappened. You just spent over 10 years with Paris, and go back to Menelaus, the man you hated for so long, like it was nothing? Forget the deaths of not one, not two, but multiple children? Crying for five minutes and forgetting it doesn’t cover the death of a SINGLE child, let alone multiple children. A page of contrition does not cover up for her spending that long away and then falling back into life with Menelaus in Sparta like nothing happened. Since she wasn’t painted as a completely selfish, evil bitch the rest of the story and the author *tries* to show emotion at some points here, I am guessing this was just poor writing. Notice I said completely selfish – Helen certainly was selfish and didn’t seem to care how her actions would affect others at all, but I don’t believe she was downright cruel - just willfully ignorant.
The most interesting events in the book, oddly enough, all occur before Helen gets to Troy. And you thought the Trojan War was going to be the best part, right?
The most interesting events in the book, oddly enough, all occur before Helen gets to Troy. And you thought the Trojan War was going to be the best part, right?
September 2, 2011
Very similar to Margaret George's Helen of Troy, but didn't assume one knew the story ahead of time. Good for someone who didn't know the story before, because there were tons of explanations about Greek myths connected the Iliad, which were informative and fun for my inner classicist. When I read Margaret George's book, I wasn't all that familiar with the story, so I was somewhat confused.
The additions of the old earth mother religion being overtaken by the new Olympian religion made some sense, but made the book feel a little too new-agey. Too similar to The Mists of Avalon. I did enjoy the characters here...deals with more of Helen's life than other stories, and actually allowed Menelaus to be a character one could care about and be interested in. As a side note, has anyone ever written the Iliad from his perspective? It always seems like he gets lost in the midst of Helen and Paris, Agamemnon, Achilles, Hector, etc. I'd read about Menelaus, especially if he was a fully rounded character the way he was in this book.
The additions of the old earth mother religion being overtaken by the new Olympian religion made some sense, but made the book feel a little too new-agey. Too similar to The Mists of Avalon. I did enjoy the characters here...deals with more of Helen's life than other stories, and actually allowed Menelaus to be a character one could care about and be interested in. As a side note, has anyone ever written the Iliad from his perspective? It always seems like he gets lost in the midst of Helen and Paris, Agamemnon, Achilles, Hector, etc. I'd read about Menelaus, especially if he was a fully rounded character the way he was in this book.
August 3, 2015
I'm a slut for mythology and was excited by the prospect of a retelling of the Trojan War from the POV of the infamous Helen of Troy. The story worked when it came to weaving together the multiple narratives into one coherent story and the prose flows well. But I couldn't fully embrace this book because everyone was so damn unlikable. The author clearly wanted the reader to love Helen but she was so vain and arrogant, I found it impossible to give a damn about her. (Seriously, she refers to herself in the third person.) She turns her eulogy to Hector into a pity party for herself and shames all her relatives for not inviting her out to play all her years in Troy. Most of the book is just one big pity party for Helen, thrown by Helen. And the love scenes were laughable...I swear to the gods if I had to read about Paris "worshipping at [Helen's] altar between her legs and lapping at the sticky sweetness elicted by his undulating tongue" one more time, I would've flown to Greece and chucked the book in the Aegean. I also got confused a lot because Helen had about 2 or 3 names for almost every major player in her story.
December 21, 2011
This would have been a better read had I read it before Margaret George's Helen of Troy. Elyot's version seems to be more a cliff notes version of George's version of events while lacking the ability to make the reader either admire Helen or connect with her on an emotional level in the way George was able to do.
Aside from its length and my automatic comparison to a similar novel, this was a very solid take on the infamous Helen. It's well written, moves at a good clip and the characters are well developed to match their mythological selves. However, if you're well versed in the tail of Helen and the Trojan War then this is probably too simplistic for you. If you're curious about the myths and don't want to spend months plowing through the Iliad, then this book would be a great way to get acclimated with the tail.
Aside from its length and my automatic comparison to a similar novel, this was a very solid take on the infamous Helen. It's well written, moves at a good clip and the characters are well developed to match their mythological selves. However, if you're well versed in the tail of Helen and the Trojan War then this is probably too simplistic for you. If you're curious about the myths and don't want to spend months plowing through the Iliad, then this book would be a great way to get acclimated with the tail.
July 13, 2023
2020 - It's been sitting on my bookshelf for the past 7 years knowing that I would like to read it again, since giving it 4 stars back in 2013 meant that I really liked the book. However, this time around I'm rating it 3 stars. While I enjoyed reading it as it flowed nicely and was a fast-paced read, there wasn't much depth to it and though I liked the characters, I was pretty much indifferent to their fate.
2013 Review: Besides learning about Helen of Troy years ago in school, this was the first book I've ever read about her. The way that it was written made you relate to Helen and made her seem reachable. You will understand more of the woman behind the name than just see her as the cause of the famous Trojan War.
Rated it 4 Stars
To Be Donated Pile
2013 Review: Besides learning about Helen of Troy years ago in school, this was the first book I've ever read about her. The way that it was written made you relate to Helen and made her seem reachable. You will understand more of the woman behind the name than just see her as the cause of the famous Trojan War.
Rated it 4 Stars
To Be Donated Pile
January 24, 2016
Historical fiction about Helen of Troy; I need to look up the historical account of her life. Before this book all I really knew was that she was "stolen" by Paris and taken to Troy and the quote, "the face that launched 1000 ships." A fairly entertaining read, although one always knows what is coming-the Trojan Horse. Helen had many children according to this book. I want to find out how she died since all through the book she described herself as a "demigod" and only Zeus who was her father could decide when she should die. Interesting picture of how wealthy Spartans lived. There was much killing ie butchery in this account; many Greek names made it tough sometimes to keep track of who was who.
February 4, 2017
This was a fun retelling of the Iliad from Helen's POV. The book is written in the form of a memoir to explain Helen's life to her daughter, Hermione, who was left behind when Helen ran off with Paris. The author depicts her as a reasonably strong woman (for the times) and she essentially questions fate and the role of the gods in human life, as intelligent people would have likely done at the time. She's fully aware that the Trojan War was not about her and that she was just a scapegoat, so it makes her into a bit of a tragic figure. The author used most of the typical myths and some lesser known ones (Helen having an affair with Theseus?) to weave an interesting, not completely predictable, retelling of Helen's story.
September 27, 2015
This was a really good book! I enjoyed it so much because all the stories I've read about the Trojan war were from the perspective of the men who were fighting it and I never heard much about Helen and how she felt about the war or what happened from her view. This was that missing piece. It gave a great perspective on what happened leading up to that famous war. It told the very human stories of love and loss and situations that people get themselves into even today and how those situations were used by war hungry kings as an excuse to invade a land they wanted to attack for years.
November 19, 2007
There were many parts of this that were so familiar, yet it was a new read. It is the story of Helen of Troy like I have never read before. I wasn't as find of the ending as I was of most of the story. It's not that I didn't like the ending, but rather it seemed as though the author was racing to finish. It lacked the same attention to detail as the first two-thirds of the book. All in all, it was a good story.
June 20, 2013
While I was pleased that Elyot chose to take a different aspect with her novel (choosing to include Hermoine's existence and several other aspects of the myth that are often left out of pop culture) I was disappointed in the overall arc of the story. Helen was a less than sympathetic character. I feel as though this book, which spanned forty years, did not flesh out the character as well as could have been in a large piece of work and/or series/trilogy.
February 14, 2008
I always thought Helen of Troy's life would be boring (who cares about a vain beauty queen and the idiot men who warred over her - talk about giving women a bad rap), but Amanda Elyot surprised me. I really enjoyed the twists Elyot put on the story, the politics, and believe it or not - a happy ending (now that took some doing!)
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July 25, 20112008- Best book I've read about Troy in quite a while. Helen is portrayed much more sympathetically than in other books I've read. The only thing I disliked was it took a while for the action to start and the ending was a bit dragged out. And a family tree would have greatly helped me keep the character's relationships straight!
March 11, 2008
I was interested in learning more about this historical figure but all the worship of the Greek gods and goddesses and the strange rituals they participate in turn me off. Those people seem so self-serving and shallow!
August 12, 2011
If you love historical fiction with a specific connection to mythology you might want to check this out. If you tend to get overwhelmed by the intense details that sometimes come with historical fiction, you might want to lean away
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