THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS

This extraordinary collaboration between the Booker Prize-winning novelist Pat Barker and superb narrators Kristin Atherton and Michael Fox reimagines the passionate, bloody, mythic Trojan War of Homer's ILIAD. Once begun, you will want to abandon everything to spend time with Fox's "Great" Achilles (aka The Butcher) and Atherton's Briseis, a Trojan queen become his bed-slave. Barker's vivid rendering summons fabled names and nobodies to the mighty and petty human drama of Troy's siege. Atherton, who carries most of the narrative, offers imaginative, vivid characterizations and narrates in a fervent, crisp, fierce voice as Briseis balances the demands of men and gods with the needs and terrors of captured women. Fox's chapters in Achilles's educated, vehement voice are a perfect counterpoint. This is a must-listen. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2018]