Review in exchange for netgalley e-arc

I have been excited for this book for so long and it did not disappoint! I am such a sucker for an ancient historical retelling and this one is straight up there with being another one of my favourites! What a book, so beautiful and well told - fantastic!

The writing style is easy to follow without being condescending; beautifully written, understandable if you don’t know your ancient history and context of the book, enjoyable even if you do. The context is explained in a way that feels natural and fluid within the story and only aids to add to the plot.

Clytemnestra as a character is so well developed with so much depth. she was written with so much complexity and emotion. She may be known as a ‘villainous’ woman, but this book shows her in a completely fresh and entertaining and emotional way.

The book felt empowering, captivating, fierce - beautiful. Such an interesting way to take such a well known historical figure and turn all we know about her on its head. I flew through this book in no time; so well written, so engaging and such a memorable story.

Read it. Just read it. You won’t regret it.

Truly amazing. I loved every sentence of this book. It’s no secret I am a lover of Greek mythology retellings but every once in a while along comes a book that is truly beautifully written like this. On par with Madeline Miller.

Every once in a while a writer comes along and refreshes our notions of what fiction can do . . . Buy this book, and prepare to be blasted by the brilliance inside

I have not heard of Clytemnestra before until a few weeks ago when I received this Arc from Net Galley.

Any Greek mythology retellings have a special place in my heart.

Plot - 4
Characters - 3.5
World Building - 4

This book sucked me in from the get go. There were some parts that felt long and drawn out however the way this is written makes it easy to read and get through these rougher parts. I really liked how the author brought a not so well known person to life with this story.

Thank you Net Galley and SourceBooks for this Arc copy in exchange for an honest review

... vengeance works best when it's aided by patience. And patience is like a child: it must be nursed so it can grow day after day, feeding on sorrow, until it's as angry as a bull and as lethal as a poisoned fang. [loc. 2492]
A retelling of the story of Clytemnestra, the wife who murdered Agamemnon on his return from the Trojan war. Casati bases her novel on Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis as well as the better-known Oresteia by Aeschylus: I wasn't familiar with the story of Clytemnestra's first husband, Tantalus, or his murder (together with their infant daughter) by Agamemnon, but this tragedy adds weight to Clytemnestra's implacable hatred, and her desire for revenge.

There are no gods or goddesses here: only men and women raised in a Bronze Age society, with different city-states having different cultures. In Sparta, the girls as well as the boys are trained to be warriors, to fight and to withstand pain and to have agency. Matters in Mycenae are differently arranged: when Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus encounter Clytemnestra and her siblings, there's an element of culture shock on both sides.

After the slow start of Clytemnestra's youth and her relationships with her parents, with her siblings, with her friend Penelope and Penelope's suitor Odysseus, the pace picks up. Clytemnestra is more or less traded to Agamemnon by her father: she makes no secret of her hatred for her husband, especially after he tricks her into bringing their daughter Iphigenia to be sacrificed. When Agamemnon sails for Troy, Clytemnestra is left in Mycenae to rule, to rue, to take lovers and to contemplate her vengeance.

Initially the third-person, present-tense narrative voice didn't engage me, but I found Clytemnestra's love for her siblings (especially Helen) intriguing, and her rage and grief were vividly written. The only real issue I had was with the ending, which seemed improbably hopeful. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are alive; Agamemnon is dead; Orestes and Elektra seem to have handled their father's murder with remarkable poise ... Yet from the myths we know that very soon her darling son and daughter will commit matricide. And from Western culture we know that Clytemnestra will be hated for millennia. But as Clytemnestra tells us, queens are "either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best ..."

A solid and impressive debut.
I purposefully didn't read up on Clymtemnestra or the events happening on the outskirts of the Trojan War before reading, so that any shocking moments still had the chance to surprise me. I'm glad I didn't - one event in particular crept up on me and I was suitably horrified as I realised what was about to happen.
Although the main plot beats hold a savagery you would expect of most tales set in ancient Greece, they were definitely enhanced by the tone of the piece - scenes were sometimes sparingly drawn but always raw.

The quality of the writing is of a level with other prominent authors who pen Greek retellings, and to me the fact that this author has studied the classics shows as it does within the works of the others. Although there was a word or two here or there that I might have changed, for me it flowed smoothly from start to finish, never stopping in one place too long and covering decades of Clytemnestra's life - far more eventful than I knew.
The writing style has an effortless dignity to it, and crucially, the descriptions and reflections transported me. I found myself taking screenshots of certain pages for random rereads. The epistolary section deserves a special mention.
On top of this the author has managed to create a sympathetic and compelling character in the maligned Clytemnestra, and lends an authenticity and tension to all the characters (Helen, Agamemnon, Iphigenia, Electra, Leda, Odysseus, Leon, I have to stop now because its literally every character) that would be a challenge even for a seasoned author. Nothing ever rang untrue, and the harrowing fates of so many characters were related as tragically as you might hope (or not). This book is a glare from the shadows, a dagger in the dark, though revenge is often not as sweet as it seems.
Will definitely be keeping an eye out for more work by Constanza Casati in the future, more excellent retellings are always welcome.

"When vengeance calls and the gods stop watching, what happens to those who have touched the people I love?"

Clytemnestra. Daughter of Tyndareus, King of Sparta; Wife of Agamemnon; Sister of Helen of Troy; Queen of Mycenae. Her reputation in the classical texts have often been vilified due to her actions or neglected for her infamous sister, but finally in this novel Costanza Casati tells the story of the powerful and dignified woman who fought for her own justice in a brutal world.

"You are a woman of revenge. You know how to play this wretched game of retribution. If someone can do justice, it is you. And I am sure you will."

Ever faithful to the texts, Casati creates a distinct and powerful rendition of Clytemnestra. Her portrayal is very human - stripped back, raw and deeply emotionally charged.

The prose is brutal yet written in a visually stimulating style that is immersive, captivating and truly breathtaking at moments.

Casati does not write Clytemnestra like a debut, but rather like one who has been honing their craft for many years.

I found the relationships Clytemnestra develops to be beautifully imagined with Helen of Troy to be particularly well written, not showcasing her as a lust-driven woman responsible for war, but a woman of deep feeling and a need to be loved. Casati demonstrated the sincere understanding of her characters in a way that can be lacking in many "retelling" novels.

Clytemnestra is a novel to be swept away in, and I believe that it will be one of my favourite reads, if not "the" favourite, of this year.

"Hate is a bad root. It takes place in your heart and it grows and grows, letting everything rot."

I would like to send my greatest thanks to @michaeljbooks for sending me a copy of this incredible book.

There are so many Greek mythology retellings around at the moment I thought this one might be too similar to others I’ve read recently (particularly Jennifer Saint’s Elektra) – but I needn’t have worried. With Clytemnestra, Costanza Casati makes a familiar story feel fresh and different, and as a debut novel it’s quite impressive!

Clytemnestra, Helen of Troy’s sister, is most often remembered as the wife of Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae who sacrifices their daughter Iphigenia to summon a wind so he can sail off to join the Trojan War. The heartbroken Clytemnestra takes her revenge on Agamemnon, which in turn provokes their other children, Electra and Orestes, to plot a revenge of their own. Casati’s novel does cover all of this, but a large part of the book is actually devoted to Clytemnestra’s early life as a princess of Sparta, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda.

Like other Spartan women, Clytemnestra and her sisters are taught to fight, run and wrestle as children and grow up enjoying more independence and freedom than women elsewhere in Ancient Greece. This means that whenever life doesn’t go quite the way they hoped it would, they have the determination and the inner strength to take steps to change things. Early in the novel, a priestess delivers a prophecy that ‘the daughters of Leda will be twice and thrice wed…and they will all be deserters of their lawful husbands’ and over the course of the story we see this prediction begin to come true.

The thing I particularly enjoyed about this novel – and the thing that makes it different from others I’ve read – is that it focuses not just on Clytemnestra and Helen, whose stories are well known, but also on their other siblings. We get to know Castor and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), their twin brothers who go in search of the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts, their sister Timandra, who marries King Echemus of Arcadia, and the two youngest sisters, Phoebe and Philonoe, who don’t have large parts to play but are not left out of the story either. By spending so much time on Clytemnestra’s childhood and her relationships with her family members, her character is given more depth, so that by the time she is married off to Agamemnon and the familiar, tragic part of her story is set into motion, we have come to know Clytemnestra well and to understand how her environment and upbringing have made her into the person she is.

Something else I found interesting was the portrayal of Clytemnestra’s first marriage to Tantalus, King of Maeonia, shown here to be a marriage made for love, in contrast to her later forced marriage to Agamemnon. Some versions of the Clytemnestra myth don’t make any reference to Tantalus at all, but including him here and showing how Clytemnestra’s life could have followed an entirely different course if he had lived adds another layer to the story.

Clytemnestra is written in present tense, which is never going to be a style I particularly like, but otherwise I found this book very enjoyable. I hope Costanza Casati will write more like this – if so, I think I’ll be adding her to my list of favourite modern Greek mythology authors, along with Natalie Haynes, Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint.

I love Greek myth retellings because I adore seeing how individual authors breathe life into characters that we know just from stories. We all know the story of Clytemnestra, the evil queen who murdered her husband when he returned from the Trojan war. What Casati does is give us the woman behind that story. As a Spartan princess, Clytemnestra was trained to be a warrior and was strong, fearless, which was why she came to the attention of Agamemnon, even though she was married with an infant son. When Agamemnon murders her husband and son, she is given no choice and comes his wife, from which time she spends all her days hating him and planning revenge. Clytemnestra, under Casati's pen, is so much more than a murdering wife, she is a strong character who for once, steps out from the shadow of her sister Helen. In so many other tellings of the story of the Trojan War, Helen takes centre stage. In this novel, Clytemnestra is in the spotlight and her unbending resolve to never forget the wrongs that Agamemnon has done to her is superbly shown. Even so, we still see that even though Clytemnestra is this strong woman, she is still at the mercy of men - the father who hands her over to Agamemnon, the husband who beats her. But, at the end, her revenge is, as the saying goes, a dish that is served icily cold. An excellent retelling.

This book is breathtaking, especially in the savagery it portrays. Clytemnestra manages to prosper as she can match the brutality any man can demonstrate but is then consumed by vengeance, family honour and lust for power in the same way her husband, Agamemnon was. Perhaps I read a sanitised version of the Trojan conflict or my memory has dulled the experience, but this was a nasty conflict. In writing about it from a woman’s perspective, the author gives a voice to those who are judged more harshly by history than their male counterparts. Something we need more of, women are more likely to be neglected or demonised than given their proper place in a history book.

Much as I really enjoyed the focus being on Clytemnestra in this book, the emphasis on her early life in Sparta and experiences outside of her marriage....this one didn't work for me. Everyone I buddy read this with loved it so I think this could be a case of I have too many expectations around these characters.

What I did appreciate was the focus on Sparta - Spartan women were notoriously fierce. They were trained to fight. Classical Sparta had no walls - the women would fight if the men were away at war and you tried to attack. They didn't marry as young as women across Greece did, they were expected to exercise and be strong to bear children, and they were not segregated and closed away like women across the rest of Greece.

THAT is the environment that raised Clytemnestra. So, when awful men harmed the people she loved and expected her to move on, they really should have known better. Except, if you acknowledge this, it's hard to then accept Helen being characterised as unsure of herself, as weak, clinging to her sisters coat tails and kind of...pathetic. No. THAT environment raised them BOTH.

Clytemnestra, Helen and Penelope were the trio of dangerous women, throughout antiquity and beyond. The murderer, the whole and the perfect wife. They all deserve to be reconsidered through a feminist, modern lens. Not just one within the book.

I also struggled with the pacing. The book reads very long for what it delivers and within that it also skips 15 ans 9 years at various points. This seems like a cop out. Both times it is after major trauma to Clytemnestra and by skipping this time the author doesn't have to depict the raw pain and grief. Without this, the full character arc she goes though feels hollow, as does the cha mnge in Electra.

A feminist reading of Clytemnestra within the bounds of Classical Spartan justice and ancient Greek Mythology is excellent. Clytemnestra is ALWAYS powerful even without that though-because within these bounds you know by the end that you may hate her but what she did, with what had happened...she was RIGHT. I didn't feel that at the end of this book.

I did really appreciate the addition of Tantalus, a stand in for one literary tradition that suggests Clytemnestra had a first husband and baby. This added so much depth to her journey. What I did struggle with though was the characterisation of Tantalus to be the perfect opposite to Agamemnon. People are never that simple.

I've always been fascinated by history and mythology especially Greek mythology so when I get the chance to read a retelling of one of the myths I grab it with both hands! This was an awesome read!
Even someone who doesn't know a lot about mythology will enjoy this. It is very well written and easy to follow and if you get lost, there's a nice cast of characters in the front. 😉
It is a story about love and loss and ultimately about revenge. It's also a story about a woman trying to prove herself in a man's world.

"There is no peace
for a woman with ambition
No love
for a woman with a crown
She loves too much she is lustful
Her power is too strong
she is ruthless
She fights for vengeance
she is mad
Kings are brilliant mighty godlike
Queens are deadly shameless accursed"

A brilliant read!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Clytemnestra
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Costanza Castati
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mythology
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 7th March 2023
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬/𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬: Grief, Death, Love, Female Oppression, Female Empowerment, Political Court Intrigue, Motherhood
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.5/5

TW: rape, murder, sexual assault

”Clytemnestra watches her parents as she has never done before. When commoners walk in the megaron with their pleas, Leda speaks and gives orders, but only when Tyndareus asks for her opinion. At dinner, when he glances at the servant girls – carelessly enough for his wife to see – Leda drains her wine in silence, though there are sparks in her eyes as if she were ready to catch fire. Clytemnestra sees that her mother challenges her father, and that he likes her for it, but only up to point. Play with the wolf too much and he’ll rip off your arm.”

”‘You have always been a bright child,’ Leda says, ‘brighter than the rest. And I think you knew that. It gave you the strength to be bold and to speak freely whenever you wanted to.’ She sighs, resting her head on the pillow. The golden leaves embossed on the headboard frame her head like a crown. ‘But it didn’t teach you to accept defeat, and that to achieve what you want from the men around you, you must allow them to believe that they are in charge.’ ‘
If that is what a woman must do, I don’t want to be one.’”

Clytemnestra demonstrates the consequences of trying to break a warrior, a queen, and above all, a mother.

Costanza Castati’s take on the story of Clytemnestra is my favourite I’ve read so far. Like Claire North, Castati prefers the more realistic approach to greek mythology retelling, one that doesn’t include the whimsy of Gods but relies totally on the savage nature of man.

This book consumed my soul and threw my limp body over the Ceadas cliff. The relationships were written in such an intricate, timeless way, as though they would exist for ever and when they inevitably didn’t, my heart squeezed with the grief of Clytemnestra’s seemingly perpetual loss.

Castati wrote Clytemnestra as a fierce and faulty woman. She was powerful and unforgiving. But not just Clytemnestra was a force to be reckoned with, I found it so compelling to view her sisters through her eyes and not the eyes of misogynists.

I loved this, not only because I support women’s rights, but because I support women’s wrongs.


𝑲𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉 @ 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒉 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚
🧚‍♀️🤍


𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬:
Ithaca by Claire North
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Circe by Madeline Miller

A good contribution to the modern retellings that are so very now in the literary world. My only criticism would be, I felt like it needed an edit down, just a page or two at different plot points. Though some with love the extra of it so it’s just a matter of taste.

I will definitely be recommending it.

Thanks for the early copy of this amazing retelling of Clytemnestra wow I absolutely loved it was perfectly written so enjoyable I didn’t want it to end!

The easiest 5star given this year!

Oh my this was fantastic! I’m a classics student & I’ve always had sympathy for Clytemnestra so it was wonderful to read this retelling that looked in depth at her character. The writing was subliminal & really captured how patriarchal life was for the women & children of Ancient Greece. Many recent retellings purport to be feminist retellings but miss the mark. However, Costanza succeeds in showing Clytemnestra’s inner strength & resilience.

Greek mythology retellings are definitely flooding the bookstores right now, and perhaps soon that market will become over saturated and over done but today is not that day and Clytemnestra is not that book!

Clytemnestra is a retelling of the daughter of the King and Queen of Sparta, sister of Helen of Sparta (more well known as Helen of Troy)., wife of Agamemnon, and one of the most notorious women in in Greek mythology. Casati tells Clytemnestra's story through her eyes, one of revenge, love, loss, power, and pain. And it is magnificent.

"As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best . . ."

I absolutely love a Greek mythology retelling (or any retelling, really) and, consequently, I have very high expectations for them - Clytemnestra did not disappoint. It is beautifully told, captivating, and full of fire. I admittedly didn't know that much about Clytemnestra herself before reading this book, other than the basics, and it was an absolute dream learning her story as told by Casati. She not only does the source material justice, she expands on it, adding depth and narrative to the entire story and all it's characters that transforms it into something new. She fully fleshes out Clytemnestra's character, not showing her as a one dimensional villain, victim, or hero but as a complex person - weaving her together her story as the woman, the daughter, the sister, the princess, the queen, the mother, the wife, the lover, the tyrant, the murderess.

The structure of the novel is really well done. It's split into sections, each centred around major events in her life. There are some big time jumps between some of the sections but they don't feel like lazy ways to drive the plot forward as time jumps often can, each era is told fully and you never feel like you've missed anything after a time jump. Casati very much shows, rather than tells.

The development of Clytemnestra's character and her arc was beautifully done, and thoroughly absorbing. What I loved most is how Clytemnestra is shown as a strong, determined warrior that still felt and displayed genuine, strong emotions, and who loved deeply and completely. Often, strong women characters are portrayed as cold and emotionless, as if emotion is a weakness. Instead, Casati shows how Clytemnestra's strength goes beyond just the physical, with a raw and honest portrayal of how love and hate can both strengthen you and be your downfall.

There were a lot of characters that played a part in this retelling, most of whom you've seen before if you've been consumed any Greek mythology before. Despite the long cast list, you really feel connected to all of them and none feel underdeveloped (except, perhaps, Aegisthos but I'll get to that in a minute). The characters' stories are woven together expertly, building a story which is ultimately about family, love, and the loyalty. Each character has their own unique arc that doesn't contradict the central narrative, but even though their stories are told through Clytemnestra they don't bend to her biases. Helen's story and character was particularly fascinating, she was portrayed in a way I've not seen before. She's not reduced to an callous, vain, duplicitous beauty, but a complex and sympathetic character. Helen's story told alongside Clytemnestra's was really interesting, it showed her struggles with her sense of self and worth, that being beautiful wasn't enough for her. She envied the respect and power Clytemnestra demanded and received, and desired the strength and independence her sister had more than anything. I loved how the relationship between Clytemnestra and Helen was so complex, particularly how Clytemnestra's perception of it changed throughout the novel. As we get towards the end of the novel and the end of the Trojan war, we see how Clytemnestra looks back and starts to understand her sister and their childhood in a new light, realising that her perception of Helen was skewed by her own biases just like everyone else's.

I also really enjoyed reading about Electra, Castor and Polydeuces. And oh Aileen, how I love you!

As mentioned, the only character I didn't really feel was developed enough Aegisthos - his motivations and actions just didn't make sense to me, and Clytemnestra's relationship with him just didn't feel natural to me despite it being very much in character for her. Considering how well the rest of the novel and characters are developed, it's likely this is just something I just didn't pick up.

Clytemnestra is an incredible and painful story of tragedy, revenge, and love. We are taken on Clytemnestra's journey with her, through those fleeting moments of happiness that compound the heartbreak when tragedy hits. Every moment and every character is thoughtfully written and you are fully immersed into this world. Ultimately, it shows us the power of stories and the bias within them. Clytemnestra's story is painful, dark, and deeply unjust - but it's also a fight against that. It lays out her flaws and strengths brutally and honestly which makes for uncomfortable reading at times (and be warned, there is a lot of violence and sexual violence as you might expect) but it tells the story it set out to and the narrative isn't twisted to try and sugarcoat any of the ugliness.

I absolutely loved this and I can't wait to read more from Costanza Casati, I really hope she writes some more mythology retellings in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After Jennifer Saint's Elektra (which had a huge focus on Clytemnestra) was published last year, I was a bit sceptical of another book about Clytemnestra coming out so soon. but Casati has established her place well among authors of feminist re-tellings of classical myths and epics.

I think I enjoyed Clytemnestra more than Saint's Elektra, and especially appreciated being able to focus on the titular character's growth from her childhood in Sparta to her murder of her husband Agamemnon in Mycenae. The little-known story of the brutal slaughter of Clytemnestra's first husband Tantalus and infant son at Agamemnon's hands was poignantly told, and provided a stronger motive for her killing Agamemnon than just the sacrifice of Iphigenia which is very well known. Clytemnestra is also shown as a powerful commanding figure of Mycenae in the absence of her husband during the decade-long Trojan War.

My only issue with this book is that does not complete Clytemnestra's life trajectory which actually ends in her death at the hands of her own son Orestes (with the help of her daughter Electra). Instead, this book ends with a false sense of hope after the murder of Agamemnon, with Clytemnestra and Aegisthus alive and triumphant. I think that a few more chapters leading up to their deaths would have truly brought the saga full circle and shown that they too could not escape the curse on the House of Atreus. Overall, this was a very gripping and page-turning read!

Wonderfully human, brutal telling of Clytemnestra - known is myth as a vicious, mad, ambitious murderess but shown here to be strong, wild, full of love and vengeance. It starts a little slow - and also feels a touch YA - but in the main part the book is compelling. While the storytelling is wonderful, the dialogue can sometimes be weak and awkward, and it lost me a little towards the end. Nonetheless a solid 4 stars and I would happily read another book by the author

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Sooner or later you will die. And I will not mourn you. I will look at the flames consuming your body, and I will rejoice".

If you are in need of a revenge story this is it. Clytemnestra at its core is about revenge but this book goes further to create a complex Clytemnestra, who isn't a one dimensional female character. Clytemnestra is fierce, loving and definitely has anger issues. You cheer for her but also question her behaviour at points. This is very much character driven but the plot and the world building do not suffer. I could really imagine the Spartan palace, the fighting, the family in the Megaron.

The dynamics of class, gender and culture are themes that run throughout the book. It is clear that Clytemnestra is not helpless and is fiercely intelligent. Something I found really interesting in this book is how Clytemnestra's Spartan Princess upbringing and what are seen as it's strengths are explored as a result of the negative consequences they can have.

Clytemnestra is one of the most interesting of the Greek women to me and I was thrilled when I saw this was coming out. It really didn't disappoint and taught me much more about the myth. I wasn't expecting (and didn't know much about) Clytemnestra's younger years pre-Agamemnon and the book really spends a lot of time here.

If you want revenge, rage and fierce female characters then definitely pick this up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.