A Thousand Ships is the end of the Trojan war, told from the perspectives of the women involved in it. The slaves. The women who were captured and became slaves. The women who were raped. The women who were killed in battle. The women who were sacrificed. The women who were left behind. The women who lost daughters. The angry and scared women. There is so much anger and so much of it deserved. The book is many short stories, with a couple of longer ones interwoven throughout and a framework given by Calliope, the muse of epic poetry.
Cassandra was the character I found myself most drawn to. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to always speak the truth and never be believed. How does that work? Why don’t people believe her? I looked forward to her chapters despite, because of, her madness. Her madness was the only thing that made sense in the falling-apart world of war and destruction and anger and death. How else are you supposed to react?
A Thousand Ships: Recommended, especially if you find yourself full of anger that needs to be directed somewhere. May I suggest the foundational literature of Western Civilization?