After being a fan of Greek mythology for most of my life I have recently been looking at retellings of those myths. What Natalie Haynes manages to do here is take stories from the Classical period and focuses on the women within them. From Penelope, a well-known figure in Greek stories, to some lesser known women like Laodamia each woman had her own story to tell and Haynes did it so well.

One of my favourite parts of the book were Penelope's chapters. Here Haynes writes Penelope's thoughts through letters to her husband Odysseus and then to the goddess Athena. The use of letters allowed Haynes to show the subtle changes in the attitude Penelope had towards her husband. Seeing how over time she becomes more cynical through how she signs off her letters is a brilliant touch.
I also really enjoyed the Trojan Women chapters as they contained Helen. I thought initially that it was odd that Haynes didn't give Helen her own chapter but once Calliope had revealed that so much had already been said about Helen by others it made sense. I do feel that Haynes treated Helen with some contempt which I can't really argue with but I do feel like she could have been given a chance to defend herself if given a few pages devoted to her.
One of the stand out points of this book is that Haynes puts the spotlight on women that have been silenced throughout time and gives them a chance to reveal their stories about the Trojan war. By including chapters from The Moirai and Penthesilea Haynes opens new doorways for lovers of these stories to delve into.
The book seems quite short whilst reading it and although it did take me a long time to read once I got into it I flew through it. I feel like this book could have been 500+ pages and it still wouldn't have been enough. The way in which Haynes captured the different personalities of so many characters is admirable. Her writing style is a joy to read and this book is a new favourite.