Everything these women experienced and felt was what I would’ve expected them to feel, but lacked the emotional richness that would’ve brought their stories to life and added such depth. Though the point of this novel is not to surprise or shock readers with something unexpected in terms of these women’s lives, but to give space for the women’s stories to be told and their fresh perspective to be explored, it felt very typical. The emotions I would expect women in these situations to feel were showcased, but not in a way that felt worthwhile in terms of finally telling their stories. No woman’s story was particularly engaging or gripping and I felt like I couldn’t find my footing within the narrative structure for some time. I didn’t feel immersed in the story and found my interest waning whenever I picked up the book during the first week or so that I was reading it. This structure contributed to an initial difficulty settling into the book and narrative it felt a little stilted and choppy, each chapter too brief to allow readers to settle in or to even gain an understanding of any particular character and her situation before immediately shifting to another woman. It is not chronological and moves from one woman’s POV to another’s, giving small glimpses of their experiences at different points of the war. The structure of the novel was unexpected. At the beginning of A Thousand Ships, something wasn’t clicking for me. A Thousand Ships had the tall task of living up to its promise of doing the women of the Trojan War justice, making these women real and exploring their experiences in a way that feels enlightening and gripping. It is no small thing to retell tales of Greek mythology, let alone do so in a way that feels authentic and believable. Focused on the Trojan War, A Thousand Ships sets out to tell the stories of the women of the war, bringing the focus to their often brushed-over experiences and treating them as equals worthy of having their own stories told.
From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.Ī woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s greatest tale ever told.Īs a lover of Greek mythology and mythological retellings, especially those that place the largely unheard voices of women at the heart of their story, my interest was immediately piqued by A Thousand Ships upon its release in 2019.
0 kommentar(er)
