Susan Stokes-Chapman was born in 1985 and grew up in the historic Georgian city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. She studied for four years at Aberystwyth University, graduating with a BA in Education & English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing.
Her debut novel, Pandora, was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction prize 2020 as well as longlisted for the Bath Novel Award that same year.
At the Guardian Stokes-Chapman tagged ten books that "have interpreted the Greek myths in different ways, but they are all testament to how these ancient stories have got under our skin." One title on the list:
The Silence of the Girls by Pat BarkerRead about the other entries on the list.
This critically acclaimed novel is a retelling of Homer’s Iliad, told from the perspective of Briseis, a Trojan queen who is captured and forced to become the concubine of Achilles. It is a brave, powerful story about survival and resilience,which in no way shies away from the horrors of war and the cruelty women suffered at the hands of their enslavers. There are harrowing scenes including child murder, gang rape and suicide making it a ruthless story, but one that should not be ignored.
The Silence of the Girls is among Elodie Harper's six notable novels set in the ancient world, Abbie Greaves's ten top books about silence, and Kris Waldherr's ten favorite books inspired by mythology.
Also see Jennifer Saint's ten top books inspired by Greek myth.
--Marshal Zeringue
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