Pat Barker's The Women of Troy (2021) picks up where The Silence of the Girls (2018) ends. Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, is dead. Troy has fallen and the city is in ruins. King Priam has been brutally killed, likewise all the boys, men and pregnant women in Troy. The Trojan women have been gathered and escorted back to the Greek camp where they will be divided up among the warriors as slaves.
Our main narrator, Briseis, pregnant with Achilles child, has more freedom than she did in the first novel. Achilles married her to his friend Alcimus, so that she and the child would be cared for. Despite her new status, Briseis know she is one mistake away from returning to slavery, or worse. She supports the women of Troy - Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra and more - to become accustomed to their new roles in the camp.
Amina, a stubbornly devout young woman is determined to bury King Priam and perform funeral rites. She sneaks off at night and attempts to bury his corpse. This act of compassion is considered a direct affront to Pyrrhus and he is determined to find out who defied him, setting the action of this story in motion.
Like with her previous novel, Barker presents an unvarnished view of the brutality of war. She gives these invisible women a voice and we see the world from their perspective. Again it is the women who are the real heroes - their resilience, intellect and camaraderie in the face of devastating trauma gives them strength the warriors around them could only dream of.
I really enjoyed The Women of Troy, even though it lacked the sense of urgency and movement that kept the story moving in The Silence of the Girls. I know there will be a long wait, but I look forward to Barker's next instalment to see what happens to Briseis next.