A carefully crafted tale that offers a fresh, woman-centered reevaluation of an ancient story.
A minor character in the Trojan War becomes the hero of this historical novel.
In the Iliad, Briseis finds herself the prize of Achilles when the famed warrior kills her husband, King Mynes. Achilles’ surrendering her to King Agamemnon is a turning point in the Trojan War, but her appearances are fleeting in Homer’s epic. Medieval poets will develop her character further, and the resulting romances will inspire Shakespeare, for whom Briseis becomes Cressida. Douglas goes back to the source while creating a distinctive hero. Here, Briseis accepts a loveless arranged marriage as her lot but discovers a sense of loyalty to Mynes when she’s treated as the spoils of war. Her beauty—and fiery spirit—attracts the attention of the “fair and honorable” Achilleus (the author uses the alternative spelling) after he kills Mynes. Accepting the role of Achilleus’ favorite would give her freedoms and luxuries other captives are denied, but to do so would dishonor her husband’s memory and herself. It’s only after she has prayed for release from Achilleus that she falls in love with him. By then, the gods have already intervened—or is she just playing a part decreed by the Fates? In making Briseis the hero of her story, Douglas skillfully gives center stage to women who are mostly silent pawns or invisible in the Iliad and most texts inspired by it. Briseis finds friends—and enemies—among the women captured by the Greeks. She forges alliances with Andromache—the wife of Achilleus’ greatest rival—and Helen of Troy. Whatever sides their husbands or lovers are on, these women must look out for themselves. But unless Douglas chooses to break with Homer—and the laws of Greek drama—an unhappy ending is ordained. Briseis begs Achilleus to forget about his honor and take her to his home so they can live in peace. This is where the narrative starts to strain credulity. Briseis’ desires are understandable, but her apparent ignorance of the roles of honor and a heroic death in her universe doesn’t make much sense—especially given her commitment to protecting her husband’s honor by not giving herself to Achilleus. That said, Douglas adds emotional heft to the bare bones of a foundational work of Western literature.
A carefully crafted tale that offers a fresh, woman-centered reevaluation of an ancient story.Pub Date: April 7, 2022
ISBN: 979-8-985529-86-9
Page Count: 410
Publisher: Penmore Press LLC
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.
A travel writer has one last shot at reconnecting with the best friend she just might be in love with.
Poppy and Alex couldn't be more different. She loves wearing bright colors while he prefers khakis and a T-shirt. She likes just about everything while he’s a bit more discerning. And yet, their opposites-attract friendship works because they love each other…in a totally platonic way. Probably. Even though they have their own separate lives (Poppy lives in New York City and is a travel writer with a popular Instagram account; Alex is a high school teacher in their tiny Ohio hometown), they still manage to get together each summer for one fabulous vacation. They grow closer every year, but Poppy doesn’t let herself linger on her feelings for Alex—she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship or the way she can be fully herself with him. They continue to date other people, even bringing their serious partners on their summer vacations…but then, after a falling-out, they stop speaking. When Poppy finds herself facing a serious bout of ennui, unhappy with her glamorous job and the life she’s been dreaming of forever, she thinks back to the last time she was truly happy: her last vacation with Alex. And so, though they haven’t spoken in two years, she asks him to take another vacation with her. She’s determined to bridge the gap that’s formed between them and become best friends again, but to do that, she’ll have to be honest with Alex—and herself—about her true feelings. In chapters that jump around in time, Henry shows readers the progression (and dissolution) of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Their slow-burn love story hits on beloved romance tropes (such as there unexpectedly being only one bed on the reconciliation trip Poppy plans) while still feeling entirely fresh. Henry’s biggest strength is in the sparkling, often laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue, particularly the banter-filled conversations between Poppy and Alex. But there’s depth to the story, too—Poppy’s feeling of dissatisfaction with a life that should be making her happy as well as her unresolved feelings toward the difficult parts of her childhood make her a sympathetic and relatable character. The end result is a story that pays homage to classic romantic comedies while having a point of view all its own.
A warm and winning "When Harry Met Sally…" update that hits all the perfect notes.Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0675-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.
Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.
In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring passeurs: people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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