In Casati’s beautifully worded prose, knowledge of the tragedies that await Clytemnestra is not a prerequisite, although readers who are in the know will find this only adds to the dramatic tension as events unfold. The Ancient Greeks were very devoted to their various gods and there are lots of rituals and sacrifices mentioned, such as those that are part of their day-to-day life, as well as important rituals before a wedding or to honour past ancestors. When I finished this book I wanted to know more and was glad to find A Spartan's Sorrow by Hannah Lynn to fill in more details of her life and the legend she is part of. Facing the grimmest of betrayals, Clytemnestra's ruthless desire for revenge powers a thrilling plot. 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 ending felt a bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the story, but don’t climactic scenes usually feel feverishly fast, both in the minds of readers and the lives of those experiencing them? Like her sister, Helen was a character given so much more depth and nuance than in the original tale. Every word is meaningful, and nearly every chapter holds a quote that made me pause and consider it, both in the context of the story and in the context of my own life.The pacing here was very well done; for an over 400 page book on such a familiar story, I never felt as if it were dragging in any way.

About the Author: Susan C Wilson has a degree in journalism from Edinburgh Napier University and a diploma in classical studies from the Open University. Clytemnestra is immediately established as a compelling heroine, as despite her perspective on events being way off center from the usual narrative of the Iliad. I’ve always found her to be an incredibly interesting figure, far more so than Helen, whose main quality is her beauty. She is a plaything of men and gods alike, creating questions around fate, agency and control over one’s narrative. There were time shifts throughout the novel, always following a tragedy that had befallen Clytemnestra.

The pace does falter slightly in the middle of the narrative while chronicling the years Clytemnestra waits for the Battle of Troy to end while she rules over Mycenae with a firm hand, but not so much that you lose interest in the story. Being alive is the only way to make it through life, as in death, there is nothing, you are gone and only a story remains, however victorious, or glorious it may be, only words whispered from anothers mouth. Unfortunately the rest of the world saw women as property and Clytemnestra was betrayed over and over again.

A powerful, thought-provoking portrayal of a fascinating and complicated woman framed in beautiful prose.The novel’s time jumps and side characters, while faithful to the original Greek myths, ultimately make the story feel clunky. She is then forced to marry Agamemnon, and during this unhappy marriage they have three children: Iphigenia, Electra and Orestes. When the Greek forces led by Agamemnon are stalled, he sacrifices their daughter, Iphigenia, believing that doing so will appease the gods, who will then unleash the winds needed for the army’s ships to sail to Troy so that the abducted Helen can be rescued. When it comes to the way that Clytemnestra has been portrayed in Greek mythology, I always feel that she got a really bad deal.