Daughters of Sparta
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships—but now it's time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra.
As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. But such privilege comes at a cost. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father's choosing—
Helen remains in Sparta to be betrothed to Menelaos, and Klytemnestra is sent alone to an unfamiliar land to become the wife of the powerful Agamemnon. Yet even as Queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women.
But when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemnestra must push against the constraints of their society to carve new lives for themselves, and in doing so, make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years.
Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating reimagining of the Siege of Troy, told through the perspectives of two women whose voices have been ignored for far too long.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this enthralling retelling of the Greek myth, the face that launched a thousand ships finally gets a voice—and so does her sister. Spartan princesses Helen and Klytemnestra thought they would always have each other. But when the sisters are married off, they begin to understand the true fate of women in ancient Greece. Disappointed by her cold, hollow marriage, Helen escapes with the charming Paris, sparking a long and brutal war. Klytemnestra, meanwhile, desires power for herself, but the war leaves her personally and politically vulnerable. This ancient story is even more gripping when its pivotal female characters are explored with interest and empathy, and author Claire Heywood really taps into the passion, desperation, and anger that are so absent from these Spartan women in other tellings. If you’re looking for a truly absorbing read, Daughters of Sparta’s for you.
