Elizabeth Fremantle is the critically acclaimed author of four Tudor historical novels: Queen's Gambit (soon to be the feature film, Firebrand), Sisters of Treason, Watch the Lady, and The Girl in the Glass Tower. As E.C. Fremantle she has written two gripping historical thrillers: The Poison Bed and The Honey and the Sting.
Fremantle's newest novel, Disobedient, about the artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
At Lit Hub the author tagged six books about her "favorite historical heroines in fiction," including:
Pat Barker, The Silence of the GirlsRead about the other entries on the list.
The Silence of the Girls tells the story of The Iliad from the perspective of the women of Troy, ripped from theirhomes to be enslaved by the besieging enemy. They are made to live in the soldiers’ encampment as the concubines of the warriors made famous by Homer. These women, mere shadows in that text, are brought to vivid life here—particularly Barker’s primary narrator, Briseis, won by Achilles as a prize, then stolen from him by Agamemnon, causing fatal conflict in the Greek camp.
Barker never balks from depicting the extreme violence of war. She weaves her narrative along Homeric lines yet shapes the conflict through the suffering and courage of the women, rather than the heroism of the men. Through Briseis’ story we are forced to face the grim fact that, even now, women continue to be used as the spoils of war.
The Silence of the Girls is among Susan Stokes-Chapman's top ten novels inspired by Greek myths, 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.
--Marshal Zeringue
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