I was sent a review copy to review by the publisher. Thank you. Classic retelling are always popular. This one told solely from a female perspective will attract feminist readers in particular.

"Powerfully told from an all-female perspective, in A Thousand Ships Natalie Haynes gives voices to the women, girls and goddesses who, for so long, have been silent."
I've talked about this book with friends; we've been surprised by how this kind of book feels, having so long lived under the gaze of the male storyteller, and never even considered that there were women's stories to be told behind the hero stories. Excellent.

I’m in two minds about this book. I suspect the distancing and epic nature of it, the scope of what happened to many women of Troy (and some Greek) is keeping with the classical narrative from which it was taken. I liked strangely enough the story of the woman pining for her lost husband; the daughter killed for a wind and lied to, the mother who took revenge. The Trojan Women sections were not my favourite and yet… the women together and how they felt worked, likeable or not. I learned some parts of the story I hadn’t known - such as where the golden apple which started the war came from and why. The depiction of gods was clever, the muse and Penelope were also clever but felt overdrawn. But styling like it or not is what makes this patchwork story, which is undeniably well done even if I didn’t mind not returning to it the moment it was closed.

With thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I will read any book that features Greek mythology so dove straight into this one which gives a voice to the silent women featured in the Trojan myths. Feminist, fiery and fierce.

Haynes has a way of making a story you think you know into such a gripping, engaging tale that you are not able to book the book down. She is witty, intelligent, and her writing makes these women feel immediately familiar. I can't recommend A Thousand Ships, and the rest of Haynes' books, enough!

A heart-stoppingly amazing book. I've been recommending it to everyone, including my students. Haynes writes beautifully, bringing to life all of the hidden women of Greek legend. Make sure you have a good stretch of time available when you sit down to read it, because you won't want to put it down.

Natalie Haynes is a brilliant writer and she brings to life a unique retelling of the Trojan wars in A Thousand Ships. I couldn’t put it down.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, it reminded me of Madeline Miller's Circe which is probably my favourite book of the last few years. It tells the story of the build up, during and after the trojan war from the point of view of the women who suffered through it all. At times it was funny and we saw some beautiful characters coming to light some I hadn't heard of and some who were just names in a story. At times it was heart wrenching and devastating, those familiar with the fate of the Trojans after the war will know what to expect. All in all it breathed fresh life into an age old tale and I would recommend to fans of greek mythology.

A Thousand Ships is a wonderful re-telling of the Trojan War with one key difference from other versions - it gives us the female perspective. I loved how this simple switch gave this book so much power, providing insight into an entirely different aspect of the war. All of the women's stories are so interesting, and I honestly don't think I'll ever get bored of these re-tellings.

I did not finish this book as I have came to realise that Greek reimaginings are just not my bag. Apologies that this is not a more thorough review. I'm sure others would enjoy it immensely.

The re-telling of the Trojan War from a female perspective, this book is remarkable and really rather brilliant. The women face their destinies with humour and intelligence. Women are just as heroic as men in history, so the book subtly tells us. Absorbing and clever - highly recommended.

I wanted to like this dearly, but clunky writing diluted the potency of these wonderful stories and I struggled to look past that. Nonetheless A Thousand Ships is a valuable book to read alongside the Homeric epics, providing insight into the women who were enslaved, murdered, and driven to madness by the Trojan War. The full tragedy of a war can be seen in how it impacts women, and Haynes imbues her characters with the full human scale of reactions and emotions that are too often circumscribed in the myths. ⁣
⁣
Penelope gets increasingly irritable in her letters to Odysseus, especially once she catches news of his dalliances with Circe and Calypso from the bards. Clytemnestra is a heartbroken mother whose daughter, sacrificed by her father for his success at war in a shocking act of deceit and betrayal, haunts her as The Furies flicker above her palace; yet with Aegisthus she finds some sparks of happiness before Agamemnon’s return dictates their tragic end. Helen, so often maligned, is a weary victim of her own beauty who handles it with a tired resignation. These women are not just the victims of male hubris, but drivers of their own fates, and this is a wonderful rebalancing to the male focus of the myths. These women are no less heroic, strong, and flawed, even (or especially) when they are goddesses.
⁣
#AThousandShips #NatalieHaynes

A really well written, magical re-telling. Feels fresh and new despite the (much-needed) trend in rewriting stories to centre female voices.

A Thousand Ships is a fascinating look at Greek and Trojan history, told through multiple and interlacing female perspectives. In one way, it's a miracle that Haynes manages to tell the story so capably, as there is a constant flipping between perspectives and viewpoints that could have just made the whole thing messy rather than cohesive. Instead, she manages to link all of the different perspectives together through a clever narrative structure that slowly, inexorably pushes the tale along. This is particularly noticeable in how she comes back to the tale of the Trojan Women, the group of the ruling family clustered on the beach after the downfall of Troy, so even when other segments skip back and forth in the timeline, there is always a hook as such to keep the stories grounded.

Part historical fiction, part mythological retelling, Haynes doesn't limit herself to 'real' human perspectives. So whilst there are chapters and vignettes from the women on both sides of the war, there are also chapters that are dedicated solely to the Gods themselves and I thought this was cleverly done. It added a lighter note to what could have otherwise been a dark and tortured tale of slavery, sacrifice and betrayals. Haynes has clearly done a huge amount of research in order to write this novel though, and it shows on nearly every page. From the God's bickering, to Penelope's epistolary series to her wandering husband, to the realities of living in a besieged city and having it fall around you.

My only complaint would be that with such a wide cast of characters, this sometimes falls into the trap of having vignette's where you cannot really connect to the character before you have moved onto the next one. By and large, this wasn't too big an issue as there are several key characters who Haynes keeps on returning to, but I do wonder if she has perhaps tried to do a little too much here. Removing some of the ancillary characters - or perhaps expanding them - might have allowed for a more immersive read. Periodically, when characters were mentioned in later chapters, I struggled to remember who they were and what part they had played.

I really did enjoy Haynes writing though and despite the fractured structure of the novel, felt she did admirably well at capturing different voices and perspectives. It's a novel that I will be quite happy to return to at a later date, and perhaps that will allow me to bring all of the different voices into more clarity. I particularly enjoyed the epistolary chapters, as Penelope reflects on all she has heard from the bard's as she writes to her husband who is off on one 'adventure' after another; there was a level of sass here that really stood out from the rest of the novel. At times Haynes writing is thoughtful and contemplative, at times entertaining and witty and it kept me engaged from beginning to end.

I haven't previously read anything by this author, and that is certainly a flaw I will be rectifying in the coming months. This was certainly an unusual book with a distinctive narrative structure, and whilst I had a few niggles, it is a novel that stands out from the crowd. Despite only having a flaky knowledge at best of this period of history, Haynes' retelling of events was cohesive and interesting and left me wanting more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

I really enjoyed this. Going in I was a bit wary as I don't really know much about Greek mythology but I was pleasantly surprised as I found it reasonably easy to follow (although I'm sure someone who knew more would have noticed things that I didn't!) I liked following different characters and returning to their stories throughout - this is a feature I enjoy in books, especially when the different stories overlap and I think this was a good example. I also feel like I've taken away a bit more informed about Greek mythology which is a nice bonus!

A Thousand Ships is the story of the Trojan War as experienced by the women. Greek mythology is always centred around the men - after all, it was men who original myths down (The Iliad and The Odyssey both having been written by Homer). Women are side characters who have things done to them, rather than them being the ones doing things - unless they’re a goddess or a witch. Although witches and nymphs don’t seem to come out of these stories particularly well either 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’ve always loved reading Greek myths and legends, and I’m really enjoying the resurgence of these tales. Told with a modern eye, they can tell us something about ourselves today. We still experience war and loss (there has clearly been no learning experience over the time span between Troy and the modern era), and women are still the ones who shoulder the worst outcomes during and after a war.

It was fascinating to learn about these women, and I particularly liked Penelope’s letters to her husband Odysseus, relaying information about his unbelievable voyage and rather circuitous route home: all information gleaned from bards and their songs. A sensible person would want to know how the singer got the information to write the songs!

The Trojan women sections were really where the true heroes were. These were the women who had lived through a ten year siege, lost their husbands, brothers, sons and families, and were shared as slaves amongst the conquering Greeks. And that includes the poorest as well as the richest of women - Hecabe, Queen of Troy, amongst them.

This book was on the shortlist for the Women’s Prize 2020, and it deserved to be there. I loved reading this, and I now need to read the book written before this (The Children of Jocasta - it has sat patiently waiting on my bookshelf!) to get ready for Haynes’ book about Pandora and her jar!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance ARC in return for an honest review.

This is not a novel as such; it is a collection of short stories retelling the Trojan War from different point of views.

Which makes it a book that you can dip in and out off. And, reading this as an ARC on the kindle, it took some of the enjoyment of the book I would have much preferred having the physical book sitting on the night table so I could tuck into a few of the short stories at night.


Like Ladamia who could not live without her husband. Chryseis, whose father bravely bargained for her back, and caused the downfall of Agamemnon, and the very capricious Achlles. And Iphigenia whose tale I had never heard before.

Not to be read in one sitting, more a book of short stories that you can pick, put down and re-read as you wish.

A testament to the authors research skills and ability to write in different voices.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️1/2

This book starts off promising with a point of view from the diety of music and poetry – Calliope, who seem to be inspiring a poet to write the story of Troy – but it becomes an epic not from the heroes and controllers of Troy but from the victims of the War – the women and the girls.

Though I enjoyed the writing style and the over all feel of this story I felt like I lost a lot of the impact to the ever changing view point and the non-linar timeline. As a reader you never stayed long enough in one characters skin to really feel like this story had much to teach you – and so it felt like you barely had any stakes in what might happen moving forward.

Hayes has chosen to tell the Story of Troy out of the suffering of the women – very much in the same sense that Pat Barker did with the Silence of the Girls. However that is where the comparison ends. We only briefly hear of Briseis (whom is the main character of Barker’s novel) and otherwise from every other possible viewpoint. However I found some of the same issues in A Thousand Ships that I found in Silence… The story is meant to give us the women of Troy and I somehow, again, seem to find a story that tell me more about the men, just through a woman/goddess/wife/sister/mothers eyes. What is meant to be a feminist retelling – for me, becomes just another way to tell the story of the men we already know the names of.. such as Achillies and Patrocles and Paris who are yet again at the center of the story. The women become a back drop to the mens pain and their future is decided by the men they lost and the ones they now find themselves owned by.

The one character who seemed to be wholly herself and finding her own power is Helen, and we don’t even get a point of view from her even though I thought she had one of the strongest reasons to get a voice? Helen also has one of most impactful conversations with a man of power when she confronts Odysseus about his lust for her, and I think we lost out out on a vital part of the story by not seeing the fall from her point of view.

I will say that the saving grace of this story are the short paragraphs from some of the lesser known characters. Such as Calliope and Laodemia (a queen of a much smaller Greek Island whom I have never heard mentioned before in greek mythology) and also the points of view from Gaia, the Earth, and the Goddess of Strife, Eris.

I also found great pleasure in Hayes supposed reasoning behind the battle of Troy and how the Greek Gods may have found themselves at odds with eachother.

So overall, I enjoyed this book but I wish there had been more of an central plot, and a further exploration into the stories of the women who did have power in this timeperiod. Or atleast the women who took as much power as they could for themselves.

Like several other books on my TBR, I kept putting this off as the hype/buzz/respect round this title scared me. I have been intrigued over it, but I always felt intimidated at the same time. What if the book is awful and I "don't get it". Then, one day, I saw the audiobook on my library's audiobook app and I went "Sod it! Am going in!"

And I am so annoyed that it took me so long to read/listen to this as it just blew me away!

This book showed chapters/snapshots of the women affected by the Trojan War (barring Helen, though she is there): Women, goddesses, nymphs. Some of my favourite chapters were the chapters featuring Penelope (writing letters to her husband, Odysseus, awaiting his return and, as the years pass, her growing impatience, annoyance and anger at his "adventures" coming home from the war) and the Muse, Calliope (who is inspiring a poet to tell the women's stories within the war, as he is demanding to be inspired).

While this does lack some emotionally rawness and punch, this is brings something layered and rich, and at times, makes the reader go "Why are the women sidelined in grand epics? Or in general in myths and legends? Why are the women's voices silent in myths, expect to be villain or temptress?"

Because of this, I am super intrigiued/excited to read more myth retellings/reimagines such as The Silence of the Girls & Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold.

We know the tales of The Iliad, of the thousand Greek ships that landed on the Trojan plain to wage war for ten long years because a prince of Troy had seduced the King of Mycenae's wife. But this is not a book about Helen. This is a book about all the other major women, from Trojans to Greeks, goddesses to nymphs, who were caught up in their own war as Troy fell.

I can't say that this is the untold story of the women of the Trojan War, as they've been told in a number of ways, from The Penelopiad to The Silence of the Girls. The difference here is that this book is wholly about the women, with each named character taking on a voice of her own.

And I couldn't say this book necessarily tells us anything new about the women of the Trojan War, though, instead it just tells it well. It is especially pleasing to have all of these women's experiences and stories in one place. I also particularly liked Haynes' injection of humour into what otherwise would have been a particularly miserable book - especially the goddesses' squabbling over the apple and Penelope's scathing letters.

I've seen reviews criticising the lack of character in each of the women that play a role in this novel - that's not the point though. They are snapshots of the women, bottled down to their key feelings, emotions and experiences. Some readers who are familiar with classical texts (Euripides, Ovid and so on) may well say that you can gain more detail about the women, their characters and their experiences from them. However, those texts were often written, where plays were concerned, for an Athenian audience, who may have been more focused on the other messages contained in their words and actions (often to the benefit of Athens) - instead, this is those stories paired back to something more raw.

A few apt quotes from this book that I feel really echo this: 

"Men's deaths are epic, women's deaths are tragic: is that it? He has misunderstood the very nature of conflict. Epic is countless tragedies, woven together."

...

"And I have sung of the women, the women in the shadows. I have sung of the forgotten, the ignored, the untold. I have picked up the old stories and I have shaken them until the hidden women appear in plain sight."

The way we view these texts now, the women are no longer exactly hidden, but are still overshadowed by the epic and heroic deeds of names like Achilles and Odysseus. Without prioritising one story over another, this is the women's story. Under ancient social conditions, not every woman could fight with a weapon, but that is not the only way to fight.

Overall, a 4.5 star story, rounded slightly down to 4.