“In her heart she knew it was the last time she would ever see her family” Throughout the novel, Helen and Klytemnestra long to see one another again. Klytemnestra, the original heiress, is then married off to the king of Mycanae, Lord Agamemnon.Īs a married woman, she is not allowed to travel and visit her family. However, due to certain circumstances, their father, Lord Tyndareos, decided that Helen was the rightful heir to the Spartan throne. Klytemnestra and her mother had a strong bond between them as she was her firstborn and the rightful heiress. Unlike most novels, Heywood includes stories from the girls’ perspective and the relationships they had as Greek royalty.ĭaughters of Sparta gave me a better understanding of the relationships the girls had with their parents along with the general power dynamic of the palace. This story follows the lives of the sisters and the choices they made that ultimately led to war over the young Spartan heiress Helen (more commonly known as Helen of Troy).
Womanhood was strange and painful and humiliating, and there was no going back.”ĭaughters of Sparta is a heart-wrenching re-telling of sisters, Helen and Klytemnestra of Sparta, and the prejudices they faced as women in Ancient Greece.
Their duty is now to give birth to the heirs society demands and be the meek, submissive queens their men expect.īut when the weight of their husbands’ neglect, cruelty and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, they must push against the constraints of their sex to carve new lives for themselves – and in doing so make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years.ĭaughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood will be published July 22nd with Hodder & Staughton and is described as ‘perfect for readers of Circe and Ariadne, a vivid and illuminating retelling of the Siege of Troy that tells the story of mythology’s most vilified women from their own mouths at long last’ I am absolutely delighted to welcome my own daughter, Katie, as my guest reviewer today sharing her thoughts of Daughters of Sparta, so without further ado… While still only girls they are separated and married off to legendary foreign kings Agamemnon and Menelaos, never to meet again. Such privilege comes at a high price, though, and their destinies are not theirs to command. With their high birth and unrivalled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. Īs princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty.
For millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation – but now it’s time to hear their side of the story.
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