For the Most Beautiful

Golden Apple Trilogy #1

by Emily Hauser

Three thousand years ago a war took place that gave birth to legends - to Achilles, the greatest of the Greeks, and Hector, prince of Troy. It was a war that made - and destroyed - both men, a war that shook the very foundations of the world. But what if there was more to this epic conflict? What if there was another, hidden tale of the Trojan War that had yet to be told?

Now is that time - time for the women of Troy to tell their story.

Thrillingly imagined and startlingly original, For the Most Beautiful reveals the true story of true for the first time. The story of Krisayis, daughter of the Trojans' High Priest, and of Briseis, princess of Pedasus, who fight to determine the fate of a city and its people in this ancient time of mischievous gods and mythic heroes.

In a novel full of passion and revenge, loyalty and betrayal, bravery and sacrifice, Emily Hauser breathes exhilarating new life into one of the greatest legends of all - in a story that has waited millennia to be told.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Greek Mythology, Fantasy, Fiction, Retellings, Historical

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2016

About the author

Emily Hauser is an award-winning ancient historian and the author of the acclaimed Golden Apple trilogy retelling the stories of the women of Greek myth. She has been featured on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and The Guardian alongside Colm Tóibín and Natalie Haynes, and her novel For the Winner was listed among the "28 Best Books for Summer" in The Telegraph. Her latest book, Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, through the Women Written Out Of It, was an instant Times bestseller.

To find out more, visit her website: http://www.emilyhauser.com

Reviews

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book very much! It felt like reading something Alexandru Mitru would write. He was a Romanian author who wrote stories about the Greek gods and heroes.

For The Most Beautiful is a story about the Trojan War. As most of you know, the war happened because Paris took Helen from her husband, the Spartan king Menelaus. But it was all a ruse of the gods, as they were bored in their immorality.



Enter the three goddesses (Hera, Athena and Aphrodite). They present Paris with a golden apple, inscribed with the words For the most beautiful, and ask him to choose the fairest of them. Hera offers him the world, Athena promises to make him the bravest warrior (I'm not sure I remember this one exactly), and Aphrodite shows him the most beautiful woman in the human world. She tells him he would have her >.< The stupid son of a... argh!... thinks with his lower head, and gives the damned apple to the goddess of love (she was his favourite even before having seen Helen). Needless to say, the other two goddesses are furious.

Hermes, the god of trickery and thieving, turns away from where he has been watching, hidden from Paris and the goddesses behind the thick trunk of the olive tree. He shakes his head. What a fool Paris was not to run away as soon as he heard what the goddesses wanted him to do. And Helen will create a problem, he thinks. She already has a kingdom in Greece... and a husband, wedded and bedded...

So Hera orders a thousand ships from Zeus to go after Paris and destroy Troy. Zeus finally gives in, and offers his wife Troy in exchange for three of her best cities. It sure looks like the gods have a hard time...



Moving on, I'm delighted that the book doesn't center around Helen. To be honest, I have always despised her. What adult woman in her right mind would leave her powerful husband for a pretty face while knowing that she'll start a war? How can she not think of all the innocents that would die? *sigh* As I said, I don't like her. In For The Most Beautiful she is described not as much beautiful, as she is enchanting, enticing.

And I'm giving her too much attention. This books is about two other beautiful women who were involved in the war, Briseis and Krisayis. They are less known to history/myth and Emily Hauser does them justice.

Briseis is a princess and the wife of the Lyrnessus prince Mynes. She has just married and is happy she was able to. There had been a prophecy that the one seeking her bed would behead her three brothers. All suitors fled from her, only Mynes wanting her from the very moment he saw her. A few weeks into their marriage and their new-found love, war breaks and Lyrnessus is attacked. Her husband is killed before her very eyes by Achilles, the famed hero, who then takes her as his slave girl back at the Greek camp.

I was curious how will Hauser explain their relationship as it is well known that the two fall in love. At first, Briseis denies him and he promises not to force her to bed him. She is comforted by Patroclus, Achilles' best friend. Soon she discovers that the hero ransacked her home city, too, and that he killed her three brothers, thus the prophecy coming to pass. In her desperation (and suffering of the Stockholm syndrome if you ask me), Briseis beds him. The problem is king Agamemnon, having lost his slave girl at this point, claims her as his own. This determines Achilles to stop fighting for the Greeks.

Our second leading lady, Krisayis, is the daughter of a priest and bound to take the vows of priesthood in a few weeks, on her sixteenth birthday. She had always been a companion to princess Cassandra, and is currently in love with the princess' brother, Troilus. She is his lover and refuses to become a priestess. But as she is of low birth, king Priam refuses to allow his son to marry her. So, Troilus wants to run away with her, and they are discovered by the Greeks, who kill the prince and take the girl as a slave. Krisayis catches Agamemnon's attention and is taken by him. Agamemnon is no Achilles, being described as ugly, foul-smelling and fat, and she does not have Briseis' luck and has to bed the king.

At this point, I appreciated the author's consideration. Although we are clearly informed that Krisayis shares Agamemnon's bed, we are not given any sordid details. This is one of the reasons I liked this book so much. I don't want to see an old pig forcing himself on a young girl.

At some point, Krisayis manages to start sending insider information to the Trojans. But once her father learns that she is alive, he tries ransoming her from Agamemnon. The king takes the priest's money and keeps the girl. By this time, Krisayis caught Apollo's eye. Her father prays to him to send a plague around the Greek camp because of the great injustice he suffered. Apollo with the help of Artemis, his sister, start the plague, forcing thus the king to let go of the girl. And this is the point when Agamemnon sets his eyes on Briseis.

Where are the gods all this time you might ask. They are busy bickering, lounging, napping... and so on.

'The city will fall, but we have not yet decided who will live and who will die. You may try to save your favourites, and it'll all be out in the open. Nothing personal. All right?'
The gods raise a ragged cheer. Some even toast Zeus with their goblets of nectar by drowning them in one.

No wonder they're obsolete!

If you haven't guesses already, I love this book. And the best part is that there's going to be a Golden Apple trilogy. Honestly, I can't wait for the next books! When do they come out? Can you hear me Emily Hauser? You did an amazing job with For The Most Beautiful.

*I thank Emily Hauser, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kate Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh and witty re-interpretation of the Trojan War. Hauser builds a captivating world populated by determined slave girls, brave warriors, doomed seers, and above all the meddling gods above whose constant bickering commentary provides endless entertainment. Bold, funny, original.

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.”

----Homer


Emily Hauser, an English author, has penned a stirring debut historical fiction, For The Most Beautiful where the author has weaved the infamous Greek mythological tale of Trojan War through the voice of two female characters, who lose a great deal and fight some complex battles, to save their city of Troy. Also watched from the mountains are the gods who are controlling the war.


Synopsis:

Three thousand years ago a war took place that gave birth to legends - to Achilles, the greatest of the Greeks, and Hector, prince of Troy. It was a war that made - and destroyed - both men, a war that shook the very foundations of the world. But what if there was more to this epic conflict? What if there was another, hidden tale of the Trojan War that had yet to be told?

Now is that time - time for the women of Troy to tell their story.

Thrillingly imagined and startlingly original, For the Most Beautiful reveals the true story of true for the first time. The story of Krisayis, daughter of the Trojans' High Priest, and of Briseis, princess of Pedasus, who fight to determine the fate of a city and its people in this ancient time of mischievous gods and mythic heroes.

In a novel full of passion and revenge, loyalty and betrayal, bravery and sacrifice, Emily Hauser breathes exhilarating new life into one of the greatest legends of all - in a story that has waited millennia to be told.


The soul reason behind Trojan war is because of Paris who presented a golden apple to the god of love, Aphrodite, he was gifted with the most beautiful woman in this world, Helen, the wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus. So Paris steals her from the king, thereby enraging the king, who then declares war on the city of Troy. And the story actually begins with the lives of two most beautiful woman of Troy, Krisayis, the daughter of high Priest and a friend to princess, Cassandra, and Briseis, princess and wife of the prince of Lyrnessus. Krisayis is soon going to become a High Priestess against her own will as she only wants and longs for the love of Troilus, brother of Cassandra and together they plan an escape from the city, but eventually gets captured and taken hostage in the Greek camp. Briseis is happy in the love and comfort of her newly wed husband, but the ruthless Prince Achilles murders her husband and holds her captive in the Greek Camp. And when these two unfortunate women's paths cross for the first time, together they can save the fate of the kingdom of Troy? But the gods watching the whole war up above from the mountains have a different plan in store for these two women.

Having read Judith Starkson's Hand of Fire, I was struck by Briseis' painful life, and that is when I got to know the war of Trojan with so much depth, and now another another, Emily Hauser, has once again brought alive the infamous Trojan War with her eloquent words in her debut book. The story is told in a breathless way yet somehow it lacked lustre. The has fictionalized the lives of two forgotten women who played an equally important role in the war that changed the course of history.

The author's writing is really articulate as well as emphatic and is laced with so much emotions that the readers will find themselves losing in the emotional turbulence going on in the hearts of the two brave yet sorrowful characters. The narratives are not that productive or engaging enough to keep the readers glued, but with a smooth pace of the story line, the readers will sway from the first page to the last in no time.

The author has captured the beauty of Troy magnificently that the readers will visualize the backdrop right in the comfort of their own homes or wherever they will read this book. The city of Troy is vividly painted by the author with bright hues of colors clashed with the minute descriptions of the streets, the fashion, the culture, the religion, the superstitions, the rule and the grand architecture. The readers will be transported to this enchanting location within no time.

The characters of this book are extremely interesting and the author has depicted them right from her heart, complete with their evocative demeanor. The two main characters, Krisayis and Briseis are really well developed, their honest voice and their struggles and pain will deeply move the readers and their hurdles on their way will make the readers rooting for them till the very end. These two characters are projected with their flaws, sorrow, joys and strength and the journey that the author depicted is quite heart touching as well as intriguing enough to keep the readers glued till the very last page. The rest of the supporting characters, especially, the gods and the male characters are not well etched out or projected, as they will feel very dull o the readers.

In a nutshell, this is an exciting, enticing yet poignant retake on the remarkable Trojan war told from the perspective of two females who changed the course of the war with their power.

Verdict: A promising and satisfying read and a must read for the historical fiction readers!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author as well as her publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what market the publisher is aiming for with this book, but I think it should be YA, or maybe NA. I don't mean this in any kind of pejorative way. It is a beautiful, dramatic, romantic coming of age story, focused on young women as they enter the world of love, marriage, responsibility, adulthood. The blending of myth and history creates the same feeling as a fairy tale. The language reflects this, it is superlative and magical.

For me, it didn't quite meet expectations, but this may be because I 'came of age' a long time ago. Now my decrepit, cynical, shrivelled old heart can't take the hopeful, sentimental romance of the story. For those not affected by my bad humour, it could be a wonderful tale. Especially as it is taken from the wonderous world of Homer- as someone who studied the classics, I always want people to read more about that time.

Many thanks to Emily Hauser, Random House, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Iset · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a sucker for a pretty book cover.

For the Most Beautiful is just not that good. I noticed what other reviews have said – that it has a very YA feel – early on, but initially I was feeling generous and put it down to the fact that our two protagonists, Briseis and Krisayis, are teenagers and the first few chapters are supposed to show us their petty concerns before war hits. But it’s not just that.

The writing is serviceable. I would say it’s a shade above what I usually find in YA novels. It has an occasional evocative description, although the text is largely absent of those. Even so, the writing is mostly unadventurous and pedestrian. It does the job of getting you through the plot, but there’s nothing to get excited about.

The idea of retelling the Trojan War from a side character’s point of view is an alluring one, I get that. It’s one of the greatest stories ever told, and surely telling it from a side character’s perspective will bring a fresh spin as well as garner praise for finally giving that character a voice. You could even spin it as giving a voice to a character who has been ‘silenced’. Certainly, enough authors nowadays are jumping on that bandwagon – to the point where it isn’t fresh anymore but overcrowded: Madeline Miller, Kerry Greenwood, Amalia Carosella, Jo Graham, Judith Starkston, Pat Barker. And that doesn’t include all the straight up retellings which don’t focus on giving a side character a voice but which simply attempt to retell the story of the Trojan War. Again. Very few of those books manage to do it well. (If you’re wondering, I think Amalia Carosella was onto something good, I haven’t read Graham, Barker, or Starkston yet, and this book, Miller, and Greenwood were just disappointing. Among the straight up retellings, I didn’t enjoy Lindsay Clarke, Glyn Iliffe, Ben Bova, or David Gemmell – none top the original Iliad.)

What authors thinking about doing this may want to consider is the possibility that side characters were side characters for a reason. Many of their author’s notes discuss wanting to allow the character to break free of the story of other, more major characters, like Achilles, Hektor, Agamemnon, Odysseus… but they don’t. The same is true here. Briseis and Krisayis don’t break free of the stories of these more important characters. Their lives are dictated for them, their agency is absolutely minimal. Even their small rebellions ultimately have no impact, because the author is determined to keep the outcome the same – so it hardly matters at all when Krisayis tells Hektor about Achilles’ heel, or Briseis begs Achilles not to fight. The one major change that the protagonists actually have an impact on is that when the fall of Troy comes, we are told that most of the population escapes, due to Krisayis’ work. But unfortunately, it falls flat because with most of the population safe, how are we supposed to feel the grief and horror of the sacking of the city? It sucks the tragedy out of the story. Meanwhile, the most dramatic plot points are abridged or happen off-screen and summarised in a line.

What I found most unbelievable was the lack of emotional impact this book has. Neither Briseis nor Krisayis behave like human beings. The book implies that Krisayis is being raped by Agamemnon, but she seems to suffer no ill effects from this whatsoever. It is never discussed, and she doesn’t seem the least bit bothered. Briseis meanwhile goes from hating Achilles to loving him for no reason whatsoever. Making that switch cannot just take place overnight; a story has to earn a turnaround that huge through careful build up. Even after we’re told they’re in love, neither act as though they are in love. It’s rather odd. I got the impression that the author didn’t understand the times she was writing about. So many of these retellings seem intent on making Achilles a good guy in the modern sense – he stands up for slaves, he doesn’t rape Briseis, etc. – but the bronze age was a world of survival and terrifying, capricious gods. People hadn’t figured to live by the ethics we try to live by now, because the ‘rules of the game’ were different. Mostly it came down to scraping by and trying to work out which god you needed to bribe to get what you wanted. Slavery wasn’t abominable in this world view; the attitude was that if you were captured in war you deserved it because the gods clearly didn’t want you to win. I find it odd that Hauser could write such an anachronistic and weak vision of the Trojan War when she studied ancient history at Cambridge and Harvard and teaches at Yale. But then, not all scholars make good historical novelists – see Christian Jacq. Good storytelling is a separate craft from knowing your history.

The ending is incredibly abrupt, the sections of the gods seemed far too modern… For the Most Beautiful is not a terrible book. I’ve read many worse. But it’s just not a good book.

3 out of 10

[Keith Currie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could go wrong? A story three thousand years old that attracts new fans in each generation – the tale of the Trojan War. A new spin on that story, focussing on two important but understated characters in the Iliad, Achilles’ ‘prize’, the girl Briseis, and Chryseis, the ‘prize’ of Agammenon.

I wanted to like this novel. I have read, studied and taught the Iliad and Greek myth for something like 40 years. I have enjoyed many great works of fiction inspired by Homer’s works. I think of Barry Unsworth’s The Song of the Kings, David Malouf’s Ransom, Zachary Mason’s The lost books of the Odyssey – all terrific homages to the power of Homer and myth. Many of the best novelists of the ancient world are women – I am a big fan of Naomi Mitchison’s works, Mary Renault’s novels and I enjoyed Ursula LeGuin’s Lavinia very much. But the fact remains: I was not impressed by this novel. I suppose I should have guessed from the title there were going to be problems.
It is possible that others may like it. How do you react to this extract?

‘…he leant towards me and kissed me, dyeing the heavens blood red. ‘We shall be reunited in the Underworld…we will wait. We will wait for each other, Briseis, as we waited for each other in this life, and we will welcome each other on the banks of the Styx, to be together always.’ His voice broke, and he swallowed again. ‘But until then – if anything should happen – will you swear to stay in Pedasus and learn to forget me, Briseis?’

Do you find that moving? If so, you may like the novel more than me.

Hauser clearly knows her Homer: the author’s note and her biography certainly indicate that. So I wonder why then she so wilfully changes things which do not need changed. Why does she make Aeneas a son of king Priam? Why does she make Patroclus such a drama queen? She knows he was older than Achilles and proven warrior in his own right, not simply brought to Troy to be an idle decoration. Why does she make Paris so useless a warrior, so comically bad an archer? In the Iliad even Hector knows Paris could fight if only he were bothered to make the effort. Why does Briseis claim that Achilles never slept with her again after the death of Patroclus? Is it simply to conform to a Twenty First century perception that the relationship of Achilles and Patroclus was a gay one?

The author writes clearly and has some clever twists in her story. I do like how she insinuates a mysterious blind poet into the narrative. Mind you, if this is meant to be Homer himself, how could his version of the Trojan story be so different from that of his lover, the narrator of the tale? Other than that the central narratives are reasonably diverting and contain some bows in Homer’s direction, for example the successful use of extended simile.

What I like least about the novel, however, is the portrayal of the gods. Another extract:

Hera to Zeus: ‘…and I am the ruler of our marriage bed…So if you know what’s good for you, you’d better get over here, Zeus, and fast.’
Or this:

‘Do you think this wreath goes with my hair?’ Apollo asks Hermes, ruffling his perfect golden locks into a rakish quiff.

Is this funny? Or just silly? For me this is a major fault in the novel: the gods portrayed as a sort of out-take from Walt Disney’s Hercules welded onto the story of a deadly and cruel war. Yes, there is an element of Homer here, but exaggerated to a ludicrous extreme, presumably for cheap laughs. The gods are always going to present a problem for a modern audience, so why have them there at all? Wolfgang Peterson removed them completely from his film, Troy. The capricious power of fate could be portrayed differently, or the gods could be, as in Homer, genuinely scary because of their selfish carelessness. Indeed, in some novels they have been portrayed very successfully, for example in Ransom or The lost books of the Odyssey mentioned earlier.

For me, this novel would have been a lot better if the author had just left the gods out. They add nothing positive to the story and are simply an irritating distraction. What a pity. This was an opportunity missed.

[Judith Starkston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hauser brings to life the women of the Trojan War in a vivid, fast-moving story. While tradition recorded only the deeds of men in this most famous of wars, Hauser’s legendary women show us heroic feats of courage, passionate love, deep wells of grief, acts of self-sacrifice and a tenacious insistence on hope. Her chapters populated by the gods of Olympus are pitch perfect: their self-absorbed, shallow toying with human life acts as a satiric counterpoint that enriches the emotional impact of this remarkable reworking of the mythic tradition that started with Homer.

[Jenks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow ! Just wow!
Absolutely thrilled to of come across this book .

I need to read more by this author . Loved the time period and felt the character per chapter in this novel worked well- as normally I am not a fan of this technique , it however allowed each character and strand of the story to develop perfectly !

Must read

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous novel reworking the Trojan war, but this time from the view of two of the women who were vital to how it fell out, but mostly ignored after the action starts. I refer to Briseis, Achilles prize of war who was stolen by Agamemnon, and Krisayis beloved of Troilus and the daughter of Apollo's High Priest in Troy.

This is a magnificient retelling, keeping the mythic elements of Homer intact. The gods have several scenes to themselves and they are hilarious. Athena referring to Aphrodite's cupids as "flying midgets" was a delight. The best characterization, though, was Hermes. Emily Hauser caught the mischievous trickster element of this complicated deity extremely well.

A rare 5 stars from me.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enchanting read, beautifully written.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For The Most Beautiful is the first of the Golden Apple Trilogy. A re-telling of both the Iliad, and the Trojan War, and the story of warring greek gods and goddesses, this story features two women - Kryiasis and Bresius. Alternating narrators who figure prominently in the fall of Troy. Achilles is a major character, and the interference of the Gods who play with mortals as sport, is the alternate story. A dual intertwined story of Human Cbess.

Many people are reading the Song of Achilles right now for the same challenge, and I felt all along that this book must be very similar. I enjoyed it. But ultimately, I'm not in love with Greek gods or mythology. I had been drawn to the book and it was on my TBR - but I probably won't continue the series.

[Crystal King · Rating 5 out of 5]

For The Most Beautiful is a wonderful novel about the women of the Trojan War. The novel is clearly meticulously researched and Hauser's background as a classicist shines through each character and place, on every page. The familiar myths are all there; a quarrel of the goddesses resulting in a choice marked by a golden apple, the stories of Agamemnon and Hector, of Helen of Troy and Paris, Achilles and his tender heel. The myths are woven into the larger tale, told from the perspectives of the women of Troy. It's historical fiction but within this novel the gods have agency. They are participatory in the lives of their believers. I loved every second of this book and can't wait till the second book in the series comes out!

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

c2016: FWFTB: Troy, war, gods, Achilles, fight, sacrifice. Once again, the GR choice of editions is at odds with the book I have in my hands. This book is the hardcover version with the image that GRs has catalogued as the Kindle edition. **sigh**. You know how there are some happenings in history that you don't really want to think about? Well, for me, this book zeroed in on one of my 'ostrich' thoughts and that is with the age of the women in the book when it all first kicks off. Its 1250 BC and on P35 we have one of the heroines (Krisayis) say, "There are still two months left until I reach my sixteenth year!" This elicited a groan from me as I was already thinking after a couple of pages that this was aimed for a YA audience. And then, a couple of pages on, this sentence, which, mind you, is only a month later according to the glossary at the back "We were in the sleepy aftermath of love-making in Troilus' juniper-wood bed, cushioned on layers and layers of the finest woollen blankets. . Ugh. I really hope now this book wasn't aimed at the YA market. I found the writing to be really simplistic and the short chapters made it feel very bitty-piecy. In my opinion, I don't think that any of the characters had flesh on them and well, there was no plot, other than what happened historically but blaming all the motivation on mischievous gods. I had originally shelved this as history but with the plot turning on the 'gods' interference, it has to be spec-fic. There are some really rave reviews for this book out in cyber world and on the back of the book as well. However, I have to note that the people quoted on the back cover are unknown to me with the exception of Elizabeth Fremantle. Even a Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick University has been quoted. In my mind, I think this is a little like the Emperors new clothes and I feel unable to recommend it to any of the normal crew. "He is a cold-hearted murderer. He pretends to grief I can't make up my mind whether or not this is an error or not at what he does, yet still he slays every man in the Troad, like a plague.' My voice broke, my throat thick with grief. bit repetitive, no? 'He has destroyed everyone I ever loved. All suitably dramatic and Greek tragedian in format. Meh!

[Thelastwordreview · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Hauser has taken a fresh new look at Homer’s epic Greek epic Iliad and the siege of Troy, but with a here is a fresh twist on the Greek myth.
The story is based around the Women of Troy namely Krisayis who is the daughter of the Trojan’s high priest and Briseis who is a Princess of the City of Pedasus close to Troy.
I recall reading Homer’s Iliad nearly 38 years ago and thanks to this I got interested in the classics. So anyone who has read Iliad knows the story and how the fate of Troy was sealed.
Emily Hauser has written the story through the eyes of the two women of Troy and how they used what power they had to influence the outcome.

For The Most Beautiful is an epic tale in its own right as Hauser tries to describe to the reader how life was living in the shadows of the gods of war. I have to admit that my favourite of the women was Krisayis she is brave and does everything she can to assist the Trojans by learning the Greek plans after she is captured by them.
You always know a good book when you get drawn into the storyline, and what Hauser has done here is to create a new and vibrant retake on the story of Troy not so much a retelling as I don’t think that this is how it comes across. Indeed, within in the interview I have done with Emily Hauser she says ‘It is a story that needed to be told’. For those not familiar with the epic Greek tale there is a handy detailed glossary of names and places at the back of the book. I compliment Hauser’s prose it is peerless. A truly outstanding debut.
For The Most Beautiful is the trilogy and each can be read on their own, and with the second book now underway I am already looking forward to the next instalment.
My thanks to Lily Capewell and Patsy Irwin as well as Doubleday for a review copy ahead of publication.

[John Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Hauser has taken a fresh new look at Homer’s epic Greek epic Iliad and the siege of Troy, but with a here is a fresh twist on the Greek myth.
The story is based around the Women of Troy namely Krisayis who is the daughter of the Trojan’s high priest and Briseis who is a Princess of the City of Pedasus close to Troy.
I recall reading Homer’s Iliad nearly 38 years ago and thanks to this I got interested in the classics. So anyone who has read Iliad knows the story and how the fate of Troy was sealed.
Emily Hauser has written the story through the eyes of the two women of Troy and how they used what power they had to influence the outcome.
For The Most Beautiful is an epic tale in its own right as Hauser tries to describe to the reader how life was living in the shadows of the gods of war. I have to admit that my favourite of the women was Krisayis she is brave and does everything she can to assist the Trojans by learning the Greek plans after she is captured by them.
You always know a good book when you get drawn into the storyline, and what Hauser has done here is to create a new and vibrant retake on the story of Troy not so much a retelling as I don’t think that this is how it comes across. Indeed, within in the interview I have done with Emily Hauser she says ‘It is a story that needed to be told’. For those not familiar with the epic Greek tale there is a handy detailed glossary of names and places at the back of the book. I compliment Hauser’s prose it is peerless. A truly outstanding debut.
For The Most Beautiful is the trilogy and each can be read on their own, and with the second book now underway I am already looking forward to the next instalment.
My thanks to Lily Capewell and Patsy Irwin as well as Doubleday for a review copy ahead of publication.

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gods sit atop the great mountain and direct the fates of mortals on Earth below. They have their favourites and their rivalry is a game of entertainment. Meanwhile on Earth the mortals have to suffer the capricious choices of their Gods as played out with their lives. As his reward for favouring Aphrodite above other goddesses Paris has stolen the most beautiful woman in Greece as his bride, unfortunately Helen was married and now her husband and his allies are coming to Troy seeking revenge. Krisayis is the daughter of a priest and companion to the Trojan princess but when her lover is killed by the Greeks, Krisayis realises that her loyalty lies to her people and her city. Briseis is a princess newly married and newly widowed, as a slave she understands the power of love and honour.

Emily Hauser has taken a well known story and created something new in this novel. A modern interpretation which takes the best aspects of historical and women's fiction but underlies them with a strong core of learning and knowledge. Whilst occasionally seeming light and superficial there are deep meaning cutting below the simple story - feminism, honour, love and strength. This is a really enjoyable read and the debut of an interesting new voice.

[Madame Mona Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library while waiting for other books to come in. We all know the story of Troy and Helen whose face launched a thousand ships to start the Trojan War. What makes this book different is that it is told from the perspective of the women of Troy. This book would have been perfect if not for the chapter narratives told from the gods perspectives. It was ridiculous and made the story seem silly and trite. Otherwise this book is really excellent.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Trojan War as told from the perspective of some of the women involved. I loved the different angle and that this was not all about heroic men and their feats of derring do. Some of the prose was a bit purple at times but overall I loved this and whizzed through it in no time at all.

[Cait · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the most disappointing book I've read in a long time, and it's entirely because I had such high hopes...

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://nofeet.booklikes.com/post/1534...

One of the best books I have read in 2017, so far.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

DEUTSCH │ GERMAN

"Die Frauen von Troja" ist eine Reihe Romanen, die an die Werke des altgriechischen Dichters Homer und dessen "Ilias" anlehen.
Homer schildert in der "Ilias" den Verlauf des trojanischen Krieges, erzählt von Helden wie Achilles und beschreibt den Fall der legendären Stadt Troja.
Doch Emily Hauser zeigt in ihren Werken eine ganz neue Seite des sagenumwobenen Krieges auf: die Seite der Frauen.
Durch zahlreiche Recherchen entdeckte Autorin Hauser einige sehr interessante und inspirierende trojanische Frauen, ohne die der Krieg anders verlaufen wäre.
Und "Die Frauen von Troja" erzählt genau diese Geschichte.

>> Inhalt & Charaktere <<

"Tochter des Sturms" erzählt die Geschichte zweier Trojanerinnen.
Chryseis, eine Priestertochter, die als Gefährtin der Prinzessin Kassandra (und geheime Liebhaberin eines Prinzes) von Troja im Palast lebt. Trotz ihrer niederen Geburt wird sie gemocht und respektiert.
Als sie eines Tages mit ihrem Prinzes Troilus fliehen will, werden sie von griechischen Soldaten angegriffen; Troilus getötet und Chryseis als Sklavin verschleppt.
Einige Zeit verbringt sie im Lager der Griechen als Liebessklavin von König Agamemmnon höchtspersönlich.

Briseis, Prinzessin von Pedasos, wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher als einen Mann, der sie liebt und heiraten möchte. Als es endlich so weit ist, wird ihr geliebter Gatte von niemand geringerem als Achilles getötet. Auch Briseis wird verschleppt und muss ihr restliches Leben als Sklavin fristen und mit Achilles das Bett teilen.

Die beiden Protagonistinnen begegnen sich nur ein- oder zweimal während des gesamten Romans, doch beide haben so viel gemeinsam:
Beider ergeben sich nicht einfach und kämpfen für ihre Rechte. Sie sind beide nicht auf den Mund gefallen und hauen einen Spruch nach dem anderen raus und bieten den Adelsleuten die Stirn.
Und beide lieben Troja so sehr, dass sie dafür sogar sterben würden.

Auch die Nebencharaktere, wie zum Beispiel Patroklos oder Achilles, Helena von Sparta, Kassandra von Troja etc etc etc. erwachen alle zu neuem Leben. Vom mutigen und unsterblichen Krieger Achilles zum Beispiel lernt man als Leser eine ganz andere Seite kennen, die Seite abseits des Schlachtfeldes.

>> Kritik <<

An manchen Stellen muss ich sagen, fand ich das Buch etwas unglaubwürdig. Die Zeit um Troja herum war eine brutale und von Krieg zerissene Zeit. Sklaven waren gang und gebe, das niedere Volk nicht sehr gut angesehen.
Chryseis und Briseis werden beide als Sklavinnen gehalten und nicht einmal wird die Hand gegen sie erhoben, trotz allem, was sie tun und sagen.
Sie werden auch zu nichts gezwungen, sie müssen weder mit Achilles, noch mit dem König das Bett teilen. Und das nur, weil sie sagen, sie möchten nicht.
Das fand ich etwas schade, da dort etwas die Authentizität gefehlt hat.

>> Fazit <<

Der Roman ist meiner Meinung nach sehr gut gelungen.
Zwar ging es langsam voran, aber stetig. Kein besonders großer Nervenkitzel oder atemberaubender Herzschmerz waren darin zu finden; trotzdem war es einfach nur schön, diesen Roman zu lesen.
Trotz Abwesenheit solch nervenaufreibener Handlungen konnte ich das Buch nicht aus der Hand legen und war total fasziniert davon.
Trotz des oben genannten Kritikpunktes bin ich schon sehr gespannt auf die anderen Teile und freue mich sehr, diese zu lesen.

[IsaJameela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. It was really cool to see the Trojan War from the women's perspective, a view we don't get often. The sections that were my favourite were the one from the gods' point of view on Mount Ida, where they intervened in the war. It did a good job of showing what these people believed were happening and how cruel they believed their gods to be. It was really interesting to see Achilles painted in a complicated light, not the hero all the time, yet not the villain. Something about Krisayis to me, was that she was a bit annoying. But it didn't bother me that much. Overall, this book was a really interesting take on the Trojan War and I would absolutely recommend reading it.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

A prince playing at being a shepherd is visited by three goddesses who ask him to award a golden apple to the one he deems the most beautiful. All offer him rewards if he names them the most beautiful, but Arinniti’s offer of the most beautiful woman in the world is what convinces him, and dooms his home – Troy.

For The Most Beautiful takes the story of the Trojan War and focuses on two pivotal but relatively unexplored women. Better known as Chryseis, Krisayis was the daughter of the high priest of Apollo in Troy. Taken as a slave by Agamemnon, its his refusal to ransom her back to her father that causes Apollo to send a plague through the Greek camp. When Agamemnon is more or less forced to give her up, he demands Achilles’s slave, Briseis, as recompense and sparks a conflict that sees Achilles withdrawing himself and his soldiers, the Myrmidons, from the war.

This book has tremendous potential and just the idea of sliding the camera lens off the heroes and warriors of the Trojan War and onto two women who have often been overlooked was very exciting. But I ended up disappointed – simply because the book isn’t very good.

To start with, the writing is fairly simple. It’s perfectly serviceable, but it’s nothing special. Worse, the voices for Briseis and Krisayis are the same. This isn’t helped by the fact that the chapters are so short and we’re darting from Krisayis’s POV to Briseis’s and back in every four or so pages. I struggled to connect with the characters because we’re given such a short time with them before we’re moving back to someone else.

The Krisayis and Briseis sections are broken up by interludes with the Greek gods. This, frankly, is a bit weird. Not that the gods are part of it – they’re a big part of the Trojan legend, after all – but just… weirdly written. Because the writing is suddenly anachronistic and highly comedic (not particularly in a way I enjoy, for the record), and it sits bizarrely against the other chapters which deal with slavery, war, death, rape and trauma. I get that it’s showing the gods as frivolous and playing with human lives, I get that it’s a great place to dump a load of exposition. But it just feels weird.

Although the non-god sections are serious, dealing with very serious themes, I found these things just happened to be there. Briseis gets over the fact that Achilles killed her family and falls in love with him lightning-fast. Krisayis’s experiences of being Agamemnon’s sex slave are glossed over – while I’m always glad not to read an explicit rape scene, I’m not particularly thrilled that it was mentioned in a couple of lines as something that happened and then never touched on again.

Emily Hauser’s biography notes she studied Classics at Cambridge and teaches at Yale, so I accept she knows her stuff. There are parts of the For The Most Beautiful that contradict the Trojan War legend – most of Troy escapes the sack, for example – but while I figure there are reasons Hauser contradicts the myths, I’m not entirely sure what they are. To avert some of the tragedy? To put her own stamp on the story? I don’t know. There are also big gaps in this retelling – one section leaves off with Patroclus’s death, the next skips into future, mentioning Achilles’s murder and mistreatment of Hector in one line.

I’ve not read a lot about Greek mythology in detail, so I don’t know how the Golden Apple thing works in the mythology, but I found myself bewildered by its climatic reappearance. Like a really “huh, what?” moment.

Hauser seems not to want to commit on the question of whether Patroclus and Achilles were sexually or romantically involved – Patroclus reveals himself to be in love with Achilles, a love he deems unrequited though we’re later told Achilles virtually ignores Briseis after Patroclus’s death, and Briseis hears the Greeks gossiping about them possibly having sex like it’s oh-so-shocking and Briseis strangely has no reaction to it. Maybe Hauser thought it was better to hint than be explicit, as a way of pleasing everyone? Those who don’t like Achilles/Patroclus can just pretend it’s one-sided and based on gossip, those who do can pretend that it’s an all-consuming love affair.

I’m a simple girl, I see Patroclus and Achilles and I’m like “well, who am I to argue with Alexander the Great and Plato? They’re totally lovers.” So, I don’t know, Hauser’s treatment of Patroclus’s character and his relationship with Achilles just rubbed me the wrong way. Patroclus is, traditionally, older than Achilles and a skilled warrior in his own right – but here he’s younger and forbidden from fighting. Furthermore, what we see of Achilles and Patroclus together feels… weird, what with Patroclus introducing himself as “‘I am Achilles’…’ he hesitated ‘…companion.’” And then running away with a “single terrified glance” when Achilles bellows at him.

So, all in all, this is a disappointment.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“For the most beautiful”. These are the words inscribed on a golden apple presented by Paris, Prince of Troy, to the goddess Aphrodite whom he has chosen over her rivals, Hera and Athena. In return, the goddess rewards Paris with Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world – but unfortunately, Helen is already married. Not surprisingly, her husband, Menelaus, is enraged by the theft of his wife and sends the mighty armies of Greece, led by his brother King Agamemnon, to the shores of Troy to bring her back.

The story of the Trojan War is one that has been told many times before and with which a lot of readers will already be familiar before picking up Emily Hauser’s debut novel, For the Most Beautiful. However, this book retells the story from a feminine perspective and focuses on two female characters – Krisayis and Briseis – who both have important roles to play yet have not been given much attention in other versions such as Homer’s Iliad.

Krisayis (whose name is usually spelled Chryseis) is the daughter of a Trojan priest and companion to Cassandra, a princess of Troy. As the novel begins, we learn that Krisayis is in love with Cassandra’s brother, Troilus, and that, much against her wishes, she is about to become a priestess devoted to the god Apulunas. Our other main character, Briseis, is a princess of Lyrnessus who has unexpectedly found love with her husband Mynes, despite growing up under the shadow of a prophecy which seemed to rule out the possibility of happiness. With the onset of war, the lives of both young women are thrown into turmoil; their paths cross while held captive in the Greek camp, but will they be able to change fate and save Troy?

I found For the Most Beautiful a very enjoyable read. I think it was probably aimed at a younger audience but there was enough depth to keep an adult reader happy too. Having only read two or three other novels about Troy (including Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles and Judith Starkston’s Hand of Fire) I found that while I knew the basic outline of the story, a lot of it was new to me and the approach the author took made it feel fresh and original. It was interesting to see how Emily Hauser interpreted the characters of not just Krisayis and Briseis but also Achilles, Patroclus, Paris, Hector, Cassandra and others.

The stories of our two heroines unfold in alternating chapters and I thought these sections of the book were well written and emotionally engaging (both Briseis and Krisayis suffer the death of a loved one and then face further ordeals and difficult decisions after their capture by the Greeks). However, these chapters are interspersed with short scenes in which we witness the gods on their mountain observing and manipulating the lives of the mortals below – and this is the one aspect of the book which really didn’t work for me. The writing style in these sections is quite different – the language feels much more modern and the tense changes from past to present – and the gods come across as bored, shallow and petulant. I think I can see what the author was trying to do here and I’m sure other readers will enjoy the light-hearted, comedy feel of these scenes, but it just made me impatient to get back to Briseis and Krisayis!

After finishing this book, I was pleased to discover that it’s the start of a new Golden Apple trilogy. Greek mythology is not a subject that particularly interests me, but I was still captivated by For the Most Beautiful and am looking forward to reading another two books by Emily Hauser.

[Eva Hechenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Tochter des Sturms” ist der Auftakt der “Frauen von Troja” – Reihe und zugleich auch mein erstes Buch der Autorin. welches mich nun wirklich begeistert hat.

Es ist die Geschichte von Chryseis und Briseis, die beide von den Griechen entführt werden und sich aber dennoch nicht geschlagen geben wollen und auch noch für die Freiheit von Troja zu kämpfen versuchen. Zusätzlich bekommt man immer mal wieder Einblicke in die Aktivitäten der Götter.

Persönlich hat mir der Auftakt wirklich sehr gut gefallen, denn es war sehr spannend über Troja zu lesen und zwar mal nicht aus der Sicht der üblichen Bekannten Personen, wie Achilles, Paris oder Helena. Allerdings muss ich auch gestehen, dass es stellenweise für mich etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig war, denn es war sehr ungewohnt, dass die bekannten Persönlichkeiten in den Hintergrund getreten sind.

Der Spannungsbogen wurde aus meiner Sicht durchwegs gehalten und ich wurde toll unterhalten. Es gibt auch einige Abschnitte, in denen die Gefühle in den Vordergrund treten, welche mir aber auch sehr gefallen haben. Das Setting hat mir sehr gut gefallen, denn ich fand die Beschreibungen des Lagers und der Lebensweise sehr interessant und es machte auch beides einen sehr realistischen Eindruck.

Die beiden Hauptcharakere Briseis und Chryseis fand ich beide definitiv gelungen. Es war sehr schön zu sehen, dass es zur damaligen Zeit schon solche mutige Frauen gegeben hatte, die mitunter auch was bewirken konnte. Ich würde auch beide als sympathisch bezeichnen, denn gerade Chryseis hatte es nicht so leicht in ihre Umfeld und sie hat sich dennoch nicht unterkriegen lassen.

Natürlich waren auch die Nebencharaktere toll und interessant beschrieben. Es hat mich gefreut, welche historische Persönlichkeiten von der Autorin hier alles eingebaut wurde. Auch die Götter kommen nicht zu kurz.

Die Schreibweise war sehr locker und flüssig. Die Handlung war wirklich sehr gut verständlich und man konnte dieser sehr gut folgen. Die Erzählperspektive wechselt so einige Male, was auch zu diversen Ortswechsel führt, was aber ganz interessant war.

Das Cover ist einfach genial. Diese goldige Darstellung fand ich sehr schön.



Zur Autorin:
Emily Hauser wurde in Brighton geboren und ist in Suffolk aufgewachsen. Sie hat in Cambridge und Harvard Altphilologie studiert und in Yale promoviert. In ihrer Trilogie über die Frauen von Troja erzählt sie den großen Mythos des Trojanischen Kriegs in moderner Sprache und aus weiblicher Sicht.

Quelle: Verlag


Fazit:
5 von 5 Sterne. Toller Auftakt, der einfach gelungen ist. Spannende Geschichte mit einem tollen historischen Setting. Klare Kauf – und Leseempfehlung. Ich freue mich schon riesig auf die Fortsetzung.

[Care · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores the events of the Trojan War from a few new perspectives: Briseis, widowed princess of Lyrnessus, Krisayis, daughter of the High Priest of Troy, and the gods involved in the process. Briseis and Krisayis, both captives of the Greek army, influence the outcomes of the Trojan War in different ways, leading to the events that we already know about the War as well as fictionalized new outcomes., but with the overarching sense that nothing any mortal can do can change the decisions of the gods.

The book is a quick read and provides a different perspective to the well-known events, but it also seems a more fitting read for younger adults or teenagers. The characters of Briseis and Krisayis, while stronger female characters than normally portrayed in this time period, do not feel fully developed and their motivations seem unclear or too simplistic sometimes. The book glosses over serious topics like coerced sexual relations and abduction, focusing only on a couple of aspects of the characters, creating more one-dimensional images.

The gods also seem trite in comparison with undeveloped or single-minded motivations. And the constant theme of the helplessness of mortals in the face of the gods' whims drags the story down a little. While of course the novel's outcome was expected, the book's constant reminder of Troy's eventual fall prevented me from being able to really delve into the tale and fully embrace the characters.

While I really wanted to like this tale, what with its unique depiction of the Trojan War, but the novel is a little too simplistic to be a really great, complex read. It's good for light reading and can be gotten through quickly, but it doesn't really seem to hit the complexity and depth that were needed for this tale to come to life. Historical fiction books where the ending is already known to a certain extent are difficult to write in an engaging and compelling way, and unfortunately For the Most Beautiful did not hit all the notes I expected it to.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book!

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Greek legends for a Young Adult audience. Sex (nothing graphic), violence, war, love, and the Immortals in scenes reminiscent of Ray Harryhausen films.

Loved this. Told by two Trojan women, it's the untold side of the legend of the Trojan Wars. From the moment the golden apple is given to one goddess, war is inevitable between the mortals that the Gods use as playthings to amuse themselves while passing eternity.

Caught up in the battles are a Trojan princess and a daughter of a priest. This is the story of Hector, Achilles and Helen from the little scene perspective of the Greek women.

Very, very readable, once I knew who each of the narrators was, the story flew by. I loved the visits to Mount Olympus and seeing the author's interpretation of the Gods and their lives, loves and tricks.

I HAVE read both the Iliad and the Odyssey, The Song of Achilles, as well as Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad, and this brings the legends to life for a younger audience who will have learned the basic stories of Ancient Greece in school, but will find this a lot more relatable and exciting, especially for young women.

I would definitely read more by this author and written in this vein, personal stories always help me put historical stories and events in a context I can remember and enjoy reading. It has made me want to learn more of the stories.

This will be enjoyed by adult readers, but especially by teenagers 13-17, and those studying more academic Greek stories/texts.

With thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.

[Elly · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have quite a lot of issues with this book. for starters, i didn’t realise how YA/childish it would be. the people talk like modern day characters in school, the horrors are entirely glossed over, briseis falls in quick love with a man who murdered her entire family, and the ending falls really flat. everyone feels bland and forced. the gods are laughable and stupid.

i understand wanting to give the women more agency and freedom, but in real life they would’ve just been killed for some of the stuff they say and do. the author has clearly tried to create a more ‘feminist’ retelling, but compared to many others i’ve read, it’s pretty bad. everything is so utterly unrealistic.

it’s like a parody of the trojan war, where all of the suffering and horrors are glossed over, and everyone’s fates are made to appear less severe and awful. the more i think about it, the more i hate it.

i actually own the next 2 books in the series already, so i’m extremely nervous now. i should’ve bought them separately; if i didn’t already have them, there is absolutely no way i would’ve read them after this.

[JosefineS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die bewegende Seite des trojanischen Krieges
Der Krieg zwischen den Trojanern und den Griechen ist einer der ältesten in der Menschheitsgeschichte, er brachte viele Helden und Sagen hervor. Ohne großen Fakten dreh erdenkt sich Emily Hauser für die, zum Teil bedeutenden Frauen dieser Schlacht eine ganz eigene Gefühls- und Gedankenwelt aus und lenkt die Aufmerksamkeit des Lesers auf ihr handeln. In diesem Buch steht weniger der Krieg an sich im Vordergrund als mehr das wirken zweier, vom Schicksal auserkorener Frauen, die trotz ihrer Stellung einen wichtigen Anteil am Ausgang der Geschichte haben. Bei den Frauen von Troja handelt es sich um Chryseis, der Tochter des Hohepriesters von Troja und Briseis, der Prinzessin von Pedasos. Beide könnten in ihrer Herkunft und in ihrem Charakter nicht unterschiedlicher sein. Als der Krieg plötzlich tobt eint sie jedoch die Liebe, ihr Zuversicht und ihr unerschütterlicher Kampf für die Freiheit des trojanischen Volkes und derer, die sie lieben.
Emily Hauser baut auf der, in der Ilias erzählten Prosa über den trojanischen Krieg und seine Helden, auf. Ihre Protagonistinnen sind keinesfalls nur der Story dienliche Figuren. Sie sind vielmehr fester Bestandteil, dieser zu Grunde liegenden Geschichte. Die Autorin lenkt lediglich die Aufmerksamkeit von den allseits bekannten Kriegshelden auf diese beiden Frauen. Sie lässt sie nicht einfach nach ihrem „Auftritt“ aus der Geschichte treten und vom Leser vergessen. Man begleitet abwechselnd Chryseis und Briseis durch den bedeutendsten Teil ihres Lebens und erfährt einen Teil ihrer ganz eigenen Geschichte aber auch von ihrem beeinflussenden Zutun zum Ausgang dieses Krieges. Dabei steht weniger der geschichtliche Aspekt im Vordergrund, als mehr das dramatische Schicksal und das tapfere annehmen eben jenes, das mutige kämpfen der beiden Protagonistinnen und die tiefen Spuren die, die Ereignisse in jenen hinterlassen haben. Die Frauen von Troja ist keine Heldensage im herkömmlichen Sinne und kein Lobes Lied auf Kriegshelden und deren errungene Schlachten. Das Buch nimmt den Leser an die Hand und führt ihn drei tausend Jahre zurück nach Troja, wischt trockene Fakten wie Jahreszahlen und seitenlange Stammbäume beiseite und lässt (uns die wir um den Ausgang der Geschichte wissen) einen Teil davon emotional miterleben und trotz unseres Wissens mit hoffen, schwärmen, fiebern, bangen und trauern.
Mir hat Buch (mein erster historischer Roman) unfassbar gut gefallen. Es hatte von allem etwas aber von keinem zu viel. Es hatte historischen Background, starke Protagonistinnen, dramatische Szenen, Charme, Tiefsinn und unter all dem fand auch noch die Liebe etwas Platz. Doch keine dieser Fassetten nahm im Buch zu viel Raum ein es war ein ausgewogenes miteinander.
Dieses Buch trägt Geschichte in sich, wird von ihr berührt und geleitet aber keinesfalls dominiert.
Fazit: das must-have für alle, die einen ersten Schritt in das historische Genre wagen wollen und natürlich für Fans der griechischen Mythologie. Wer straffe geschichtliche Daten und eine erneute Heldendarstellung gleich der Ilias von Homer erwartet, könnte allerdings im Lesevergnügen geschmälert werden.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrilling read. Ms. Hauser has shown that there are many more heroes in wars and that everyone can be a contributor to the outcome. We always hear about the few well known heroes, but the stories of all the brave men and women who sacrifice so much are left in silence.

I look forward to Ms. Hauser's next book.