Book Review: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

So apparently this is the year for dunking on Odysseus. Earlier this year I read Madeline Miller's Circe, which called out Odysseus for being such a problematic character; now, in Natalie Haynes's A Thousand Ships, the stories are punctuated by letters from Penelope to her absent husband, questioning the veracity of what she hears from the bards because of storytelling problems (like when she questions how he could have possibly found himself with a SECOND set of cannibals) as well as what the stories say about the content of Odysseus's heart (like why Odysseus chose to stay with Circe and Calypso). After being considered a hero for almost 3000 years, now the guy finally has to answer up.

A Thousand Ships tells the story of the Trojan War, as well as related stories (like the Odyssey and the Oresteia). The difference is that the stories in the book are told from the perspective of women, most of whom are given little to do in the epics, and some of whom (like Creusa, Aeneas's wife) are barely mentioned at all.

While the tales jump around in time and place, the story "starts" with the sacking of Troy, and as a frame for the narrative follows the now-enslaved female members of the Trojan royal family. Through this device the book can center on these women waiting anxiously to learn their fates on the shores of Troy, but hop to tales of the three goddesses finding out who should possess the golden apple (as well as who came up with that scheme and why), the Amazon who fought Achilles in the last year of the war, the family of the first Greek to die on the Trojan shore, the family of the Trojan who ultimately opened the gate to the Greeks on the last night, and so much more.

This was an extremely well-written book. There are challenges to writing some of these characters, and Haynes does a great job of bringing them to life. Helen is always on a knife's edge, as the default is to write her as stuck-up and shallow, which does not make for an interesting character; Haynes brings her inner pathos, giving us a woman who not only understands that all sides blame her for the massive loss of life, but also grapples with the fact that her love for Paris was not her own wish but was instead drilled into her by the gods. Cassandra, the priestess cursed to always see the future but never have anyone believe her, is ripe for showing off literary muscles; Haynes nails her as someone always crying for the next tragedy. I did not go into the book with many expectations on Andromache, but what Haynes does with her is breathtaking, especially closing the story with her with as close as an enslaved women could get in Ancient Greece to a happy ending.

Yes, I'm a huge fan of Ancient Greek mythology, so that will color my review, but being as objective as I can, I have to say this is the best book I've read all year. Nine out of ten hot dogs!