NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Gorgeous…. With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War.”—Madeline Miller, author of Circe
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a gorgeous retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the many women involved in its causes and consequences—for fans of Madeline Miller.
involved in its causes and consequences—for fans of Madeline Miller.
This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn . . .
This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .
In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.
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.
A 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 great tale ever told.
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I’m a sucker for any retellings featuring the Trojan War and its aftermath. Especially when it features the women that are often overlooked and that it’s written by a female author is another bonus on top of that. This book was just a joy to read.
Retelling the fall of Troy is quite an extraordinary task so I will always be in awe of the authors that not only manage it but also end up amazing me with their writing. I know the this story pretty well, if I say so myself, so it’s always pretty amazing to learn or find out new things in these age-old mythologies. And Natalie Haynes definitely did that.
I loved literally every single chapter in this book but one of my top favorites was Penelope’s chapter. I loved her chapters so much because they were told as a letter to Odysseus while he was away for those twenty years. They were written so well and I couldn’t get enough of those particular chapter.
I don’t know what more I can say about this beautifully written book but I think that if you enjoyed Circe by Madeline Miller, then you will definitly like A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. I sure did.
very poetic and deft. lovely writing, interesting vignettes. abandoned before end as I i find my mood strongly affected by elegiac reads
I have never heard of Natalie Haynes before, so I was completely unsure as to what this volume would entail, apart from it being (yet another) retelling of the Trojan War.
In some ways, I was disappointed. I felt that in places (not always) the narration was lacking in sensuous descriptions. I wanted to know more about the clothes the women were wearing, the smells and the sounds of the world they inhabited. Instead, what I experienced was mostly monologue.
But as the book gathered steam, as Penelope grew more exasperated, as Calliope complained more and more about the men she was expected to serve, (“Sing Muse”) I began to enjoy it more and more.
I especially loved Penelope’s unbelieving skepticism as to what the (male) bards were singing about her husband’s adventures. For starters, she has a hard time believing all the monsters that he “met.”
Then there are all the women he encountered, like Circe, a powerful Sorceress who has the unnerving habit of changing people that she doesn’t like into animals. Although most sources (including Wikipedia) claim that Odysseus visited her for just one year, it seems that he actually stayed a lot longer, enough time for her to produce at least two sons.
In Natalie Haynes retelling, Penelope opines that when Circe finally let him go, she deliberately sent Odysseus home along the most perilous route, thus prolonging his journey and making his wife wait TWENTY YEARS before she was able to see him again. (Note: The Romans referred to Odysseus as “Ulysses.”)
And then there are the many many tragic stories: the sacrifices of Iphigenia and Polyxena at the beginning and end of the Trojan War, Cassandra’s tragic condition, and Andromache’s unspeakable grief. Ms Haynes deftly cut out all the blood and gore of battle in Homer’s Iliad, replacing it with the stories of the silent women who surrounded that tale, pointing out that the women were just as heroic as the men. Four stars.
I listened to this as an audio book. It was narrated beautifully by the author. I love how she brought life to the female characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Her method of bringing Penelope into the story by writing letters to Odysseus while he was away was very clever and effective. Actually, I have to stop myself from writing positive comments on how she reflected each character because it will just take too long! This is a beautiful work and I highly recommend it!
I’ve read over a dozen novels abut the Trojan War. All of them dealt with the warriors and the leaders. This book deals with the women and the tragedies that upset their lives.
Right up there with Madeline Miller’s Circe and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls. Do listen to the audiobook read by the author Natalie Haynes. The voices! Her Penelope is just what Odysseus deserved. Delicious.
The classic myths we read in high school tell us of conquests of men and the glory they achieved from this events. A Thousand Ships focuses on the women in a unique perspective, told by Calliope, the goddess of epic poetry as she answers the pleas of a poet for inspiration. She compiles the stories of the many females—goddesses, demigods, Greeks, and Trojans—whose lives are affected by the Trojan war. Readers see that the drama of war is not only found on the battlefield, but in all the places women wait for their men to return, all the while enduring or succumbing to the horrors of politics, religion, and war. A Thousand Ships is not told in chronological order but is rather an assemblage of stories. The characterizations are so crisp and extraordinary that the reader is able to connect fully with each of these women.
The self-aggrandizing Greek gods wreak havoc on the lives of mortals and unabashedly use others—their peers, lower-level gods, demi-gods, and mortals as instruments to implement their dark impulses.
Men don’t come off any better than the ancient gods in A Thousand Ships. Achilles is not only a great warrior, but a killing machine; his indiscriminate body count includes not only soldiers, but innocent women, children, and the elderly. Agamemnon is pathetic, a coward hiding behind his men.
A cast of mostly female characters, Hecabe (Priam’s widow), Cassandra (her daughter), and Andromache (Hector’s widow) are Trojan women captured by the Greeks. Other women featured include Penthesilea (an Amazon), Clytemnestra (Agamemnon’s wife), all facing moral choices equal to those of their men: when and how to resist their captors, to go along, to seek revenge and justice, to find their freedom. Penelope, having heard of Odysseus’s exploits from bards, tells their story via letters. The reader sees her patience growing thin as his cast of serial lovers expands and his trip home lengths.
I do not have a lot of knowledge of the Trojan War other than the few key points that I was eager to read this story for more insight. I also looked forward to the women’s perspectives as they are not often featured in history. I found the beginning of the story to be fast paced, however as it continued in the after stories, it slowed down a little. It was interesting to see the details of each woman’s story. The audio format was a little bit of a challenge with this story.
I would give this book 10 stars if I could. It’s highly readable and engaging, incredibly clever, and also very funny. Haynes made all these women so real to me, with all their anger, fear, power or powerlessness shining through on every page. The story moves seamlessly in time from the immediate aftermath of the Trojan horse episode, all the way forward to the return of Odysseus, but also back to the petty squabbling of the Gods (LOVE the scene with the apple!) that started the whole thing off. Just a wonderful read from start to finish.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and loved it. What an absolute delight it was to hear so many of the famous tales of mythology–most of them centered around the Trojan War–told from the perspective of the women involved! Witty, fun, inventive, and clever! Highly recommended!
It’s rare I find an audio that I truly love. This is a rare find for me. It is read by the author and I absolutely loved the accent and flow.
I love Greek Mythology and Helen of Troy is one of my favorite stories. This was a fun read as it is from different perspectives across the board from the Greeks to the gods.
This book put a twist to several classic pieces while keeping to the backs storyline. It was a great addition to mythological novels.
I loved this book! I think it could have benefited from a pronunciation guide of all the names, as well as a map to give readers a better geographical understanding of each kingdom mentioned in the book.
Additionally, I would have liked to have even the smallest chapter from Helen’s perspective. I think we got a little too much of Penelope’s POV when she is one of the most well-known women of Greek myth whose story has been told before. Sure, so has Helen’s, but at least Helen had more of a proactive involvement with the Trojan War, and I thought it odd not to include her very much.
I loved this book’s premise. Some of these women I had not heard of, and I really enjoyed reading about them. I would highly recommend this book, as my above comments are just my thoughts and perspective. Overall a wonderful read, one of my favorite ancient Greek novels.
I’m already familiar with the tale of Penelope so what really drew me in was the other women who are perhaps less well known.
Wow! This book is simply incredible! It is moving, thought-provoking, at times harrowing and brutal, and at other times, hopeful. Whenever I picked up “A Thousand Ships”, I was whisked away on an adventure that had me turning the pages late into the night.
This is the first book I have read by Natalie Haynes, and it certainly won’t be my last. Her writing style is so visceral, and this novel is exquisitely written. She breathtakingly brings to life the story of so many woman on all sides of the Trojan War, and you are drawn in from the first page to the last. While the book isn’t written entirely chronologically, Ms. Haynes brilliantly connects every single chapter in one way or another. I was mesmerized from beginning to end.
Throughout this book, there are stories told through the eyes of many women, mortals and immortals. Calliope, a Muse, inspires a poet to to tell the truth of these women’s stories, as they are often not brought to the forefront. Each and every one is equally important, and you feel for them: from their suffering, to their losses, to their hopes, to their wants and wishes, etc, you feel like you truly get into their heads. I found myself on the edge of my seat at many moments waiting to see what would happen next. Though not entirely sequential, as bits and pieces of each narration begin to form a bigger picture, the through line becomes so clear. Many other historical and mythological figures are mentioned in this book as well, and I can only imagine the amount of research Ms. Haynes must have done, as it is so clear how passionate she is about what she is writing. I felt like I truly traveled back in time and was right there witnessing everything occur.
If you enjoy Historical Fiction and / or Mythological Retellings, I highly recommend this book! It is different than anything else I have read, and is truly now one of my favorite books. I simply can’t imagine what many of these women must have went through, and though many events in the book are difficult to read, they are told with truth and often heartbreaking honesty.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper for the ARC of this book, and to Harper for sending me a physical ARC as well, I was so moved by it. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.