About the Book:

An exciting and equally lyrical new retelling from Jennifer Saint, the Sunday Times bestselling author of ARIADNE.

Clytemnestra

The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon – her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them and determines to win, whatever the cost.

Cassandra

Princess of Troy, cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.

Elektra

The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?

Published by Hachette Australia – Wildfire

Released April 2022

My Thoughts:

The Ancient Greeks sure have a handle on maintaining a family grudge down through the generations. In Elektra, Jennifer Saint reimagines the story of Helen of Troy through the perspectives of the women from the House of Atreus, along with Cassandra of Troy. The resultant novel is spellbinding, gripping in its unflinching portrayal of female rage, vengeance, Gods and mortals, ancient curses, and the sacrifices and spoils of war.

‘I don’t stop her from embracing me. Her hair is soft against my cheek. Menelaus lived in a humble tent on a foreign shore for ten years to have her in his arms again: men beyond number died for it; my husband murdered his own daughter for the privilege of winning Helen back. In these long years, she has become something other than herself, more than one woman could be. I can’t reconcile all that bloodshed with my sister.’

I quite enjoyed Jennifer Saint’s first novel, Ariadne, but I absolutely loved this second one. She has gone from strength to strength between these two novels and I am filled with anticipation for what she has up next for us. Retellings of Greek mythology have become popular in recent years, and I feel that Jennifer Saint has firmly placed herself into the inner circle for this sub-genre. She’s an author I feel I can confidently rely on for a masterful retelling. She reimagines the lives of the women of ancient Greece with such vividity and realism, allowing an accessibility to these ancient myths that has previously been elusive. Female rage has never been so on point.

Personally, I loved Cassandra the most in this novel and Elektra the least, with Clytemnestra somewhere in between. Each perspective was written to provide a uniquely personalised gaze upon the same story, to offer a different view of the men who were warring and controlling the destinies of these women. I particularly liked the ending, where the curse upon the House of Atreus was played out with heartbreaking intensity.

I highly recommend this novel. Note, Elektra is not a follow on from Ariadne, the two are standalone stories.

*Book 9 in my 22 in 2022 challenge*