Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won and the Trojan women are theirs for the taking.

Picking up after The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker’s re-imagined tale of the aftermath of the Trojan war captures the brutality and horror of this iconic Greek myth in fresh, contemporary detail. Told from the perspective of Briseis - once the war prize of Achilles – Barker immerses us in the lives of the women who survived the siege at Troy as they assume their role as slaves to the Greek men.

This second instalment of Barker’s feminist retelling is just as provocative as the first. Though perhaps not as historically accurate, the lesser recorded timeframe grants Barker greater creative freedom, giving her women more complex and rounded characters that take an active role the plot. A worthy sequel and fascinating feminist study – the question now lies, will there be a third?