![]() Book name: For the Most Beautiful Author: Emily Hauser Genre: Historical Fantasy/ Mythology Goodreads: Link For the most beautiful By Emily Hauser tells the story from the Perspective of two Trojan Women who are mentioned in Homer's Illiad which is the source & inspiration for many retelling of the epic conflict which is waged both amongst mortals and Gods. The two characters at the centre of the novel are Krysayis the daughter of the High priest of Apollo and Briseis, a princess of Pedasus who are taken captive by the invading Greeks and describes their experiences as they survive and attempt to shift the fate of the war. The novel is written by an author who has a historians background and hence aspects of that filter through in terms of the attention to detail given to the days of the months and time periods of the day as well as the different names used by the Trojans and Greeks who keep the same gods. At the same time the author avoids dumping too much information on the reader making it a fairly crisp and easy read. However, apart from these few details, I didn't feel like her background informed the story and characters depicted in the novel. The author doubles down on the stereotypes pertaining to different characters such as a tyrannical Agamemnon, a warmongering Achilles and a conniving Helen. Another strange aspect of the novel is the graphic descriptions of the female characters which felt like it was very much written from a Male Gaze. Would like to give the author the benefit of the doubt this is an attempt to critique the source material of the story and the context of the time period that is being depicted, though I don't see how this improves the story or what purpose this serves. The novel is written from the first person perspective of the two women and has been limited to just two characters which makes it easy follow along. However I felt that the switching between the different POV in terms of the length of each chapter felt too quick. This might have been an attempt to convey a sense of urgency and dynamism (while also trying to provide a 'cliffhanger' ending) but as a result you feel like you don't have time to sit with the character and digest what takes place. In addition, the story of the two women is punctuated by short glimpses into the life and times of the Gods who in the novel acted like Comic relief where they spoke and acted in a very modern perspective while the rest of the mortals followed a more 'classical' style which was a bit jarring. However one of the more interesting scenes of the novel was when one of the characters encountered the God Apollo and realized that the Greeks & Trojans keep the same Gods. The author decision to include the role of the Gods in the novel is also a bit of the issue is terms of the structure of the novel and the agency given to the characters who spend a sizable portion on the novel on a certain matter only for the Gods to intervene and completely throw off their planning. As a result it felt like while the author wanted to tell a fresh story, it has led to the characters having to make choices that requires a leap of logic in order to stay true to the source material. Overall, while the novel had a promising start and placed characters who had been marginalized as the main protagonist, felt the novel didn't really add anything to the Canon of the Trojan war which is already saturated with the event being used as a staging point for so many great and not so great stories using the event. Two suggestions by fellow book club members was the song of Achilles & Circe by Madelline Miller
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AuthorAvid reader of Historical fiction, High fantasy novels, Comics & Graphic Novels. Passionate about teaching & the future of education in general. Categories
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December 2023
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