The Silence of the Girls: Pat Barker

[WallyWallyWally]

I stayed up finishing this until the wee small hours this morning: it was totally gripping.

Anyone else read it? I have struggled through Pat Barker books in the past, but this one absolutely caught me. I read Madelaine Millers' "Circe" recently and enjoyed it hugely, which is along similar lines - Greek mythology re-written from the pov of a mortal woman, rather than the all-conquering men. Both had me very glad to live in a place (if not a time) where life for women and girls is not as it was then.

Then I read an article in the Guardian about the king of Thailand's treatment of his wives and "consorts". It seems that things haven't changed all that much.

Barker, in the voice of Briseis, describes the captured women as being kept in a "rape camp" towards the end of the book. It is totally correct, and something that still happens in wars today. And it very effectively did away with any lingering romance about Greek "heroes".

Any recommendations for other similar books? I will check out what else Madelaine Miller has written.

Bought this on a colleague's recommendation. I did read it but struggled. It was so monotone.
I was really surprised to find that Pat Barker is a woman. The style sadly reminded me of the dreadful Gor books I read as a teen, about slave girls taken to another world ( written by a man and strongly aimed at teen boys I suspect.)

I have the free kindle sample of this but haven’t opened it yet. My expectations are high - I remember the Regeneration Trilogy being astonishingly absorbing.

You might want to try those books ODFOx - set during WW1 - they were considered rather groundbreaking when they came out.

It's on my TBR list so I can recommend it but A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes looked good.

OOh, I read this in the summer and had to ration myself because I'd nearly finished it before we'd even landed on holiday! I loved it too. I couldn't agree less with the PP who thought it was monotone and a male voice - I thought the voice was passionate, strong and utterly true to women. I've recommended it to my book group and we'll see next week what they thought.
I went on a bit of a 'Classics Reworking' spree and read: the Penelopeiad (Atwood) - didn't enjoy this so much; Circe (Millar) - Loved Loved Loved it and A Thousand Ships (Natalie Hayne) - more erudite in that it's closer to the Greek tales about the siege of Troy but also well written and I enjoyed it a lot. It's told from various women's perspectives, a really interesting take on the war and war in general and very varied.
I read some not-so-good reviews of Millar's earlier book (the song of achilles) and felt that I'd probably read enough of the siege of troy for now, so can't tell you about that one.

I loved this. The added bonus was that I actually got the whole Trojan War story for the first time. I could never get a fix on it all before but the book cleared it all up for me.

@CaptainNelson

I kind of got that «monotone « at points: for me it was the horror of recounting the slaughter of her husband and brothers, and her own repeated rapes. PTSD if you will. But I don’t agree that it was like those salacious Gor books at all. If anything, there was very little detail about the sex, other than reporting what was happening, and certainly no indication that Briseis enjoyed any of it. I actually thought it stood up very strongly as a counterpoint to the whole Mills And Boon, sexy-submissive-slave-and-dominant-alpha-male-owner crap. She was being raped, nightly, by the man who murdered her whole family.

Definitely going to try A Thousand Ships. And I’ve ordered a copy of The Iliad ;-)

@WallyWallyWally
Well yes, I see your point but agree that it didn't feel at all salacious. It was actually repugnant and terrifying, when described at all. I found Briseis incredibly strong - in spite of all that had happened to her, she found these small ways of being independent, not conforming where she could without risking her life. Isn't this the way that women defy men? And that was echoed in the other women's acts of defiance; the woman who had a child (can't remember her name), whom Briseis scorns at first but then realises that her love for her child is her way of blocking out what's happened, for example. I don't know the Gor books and it doesn't sound like I want to, but I absolutely felt this was the opposite of Mills&Boon and all its followers. It puts women at the heart of everything; Achilles' desperation for his mother's love is a fascinating interpretation of his character and rings very true (ime).

I thought this was wonderful when I read it earlier this year - so powerful about the effect that war has on women and the more vulnerable. I thought Briseis' voice was very compelling, and very moving. I couldn't stop reading and I didn't want to read on because it was so painful.

Emily Wilson, who translated The Odyssey, made a great comment on Twitter a couple of months ago which I though summed up the mood of The Silence of the Girls:

Beaches in the Odyssey: congratulations, you survived. Beach in the Iliad: plague, shanty-town encampment, enslaved women, rage, threats, tears, the clash of weapons and the din of war, a vision across the water of the home you’ll never see again.

I enjoyed it as well but found it lacked...something.

A thousand ships - I listened to this as an audio book and it's fantastic

Ithaka by Adele geras

I had a period where I couldn't read anything traumatic or that seemed too realistic so had to read Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers
This book by Pat Barker was one I had to abandon, along with Dominion by C J Sansom and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I know it will be brilliant but the state of the world as it is and the attack on Women's Rights has peeled a layer of skin for me.

I recently read it and loved it. I'd also previously read and enjoyed Song of Achilles.

After that, I thought I ought to go back to the original so I got The Illiad from Audible. Bloody hell. I know it's a classic but it was so repetitive and boring. I don't think I'd have managed to keep going if it wasn't for Anton Lesser's lovely voice. And the characters were so 2 dimensional compared to the modern reworkings. It made me quite angry that Briseis was just a trophy and never seen as a person.

Only just started Circe. Seems very good so far. I'm glad that other posters enjoyed it.

I hadn't heard of A thousand ships. Thanks for the recommendation

Loved Circe. Getting Silence of the Girls for Christmas