Let the Women Have Their Say - by Richard Seltzer (Paperback)

About the Book

The women of Troy find ways to shape their own destinies in a world dominated by men. Their motivations and resourcefulness will surprise you. See Cassandra, Helen, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Polyxena, and Andromache as they have their say.

Book Synopsis

Because we're blessed with the gift of not knowing the future, life isn't just what happens. It's enriched by the cloud of possibilities, what might happen, what we expect and hope for. This novel is a showing rather than a telling of the stories of Troy, restoring the immediacy of the moment as experienced by Cassandra, Helen, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Polyxena, Andromache, Leda, and Hecuba.

Your familiarity with the traditional stories will prompt you to anticipate, only to be surprised by depths of personality and motivation, consistent with the original, but unexpected. And you'll savor the ironic differences between what you know as a reader and what the characters know.

Rather than tediously proceed from one event to the next, you leap ahead from one dramatic moment to the next. The action takes place in dialogue and inner dialogue (thoughts in the making) rather than narration/exposition.

Review Quotes

"The women of the Trojan War are given striking voice in this sweeping retelling.... Seltzer's female leads are powerful, smart, and deliberate, each holding their own against the legendary Achilles, Ajax, and Agamemnon-and overshadowing even Greece's storied gods in their fight for freedom from the confines of man-made laws and edicts ... Seltzer stays true to the bones of the original story, though behind the scenes he switches the narratives, transforming this into a tale of resilience and perseverance.

Placing women at the forefront of well-storied lore is a magnetic hook, and Seltzer delivers a well-rounded story that takes on subtle politics, the machinations of love, and feminine power in rich, varied tones.

Seltzer's prose flows well, carefully constructing his powerful central characters and their alternative histories while keeping to the original vein of these timeless stories.

Seltzer revisits classical history but grounds it with a new lens, capturing the previously muted female perspectives in a unique way.

Seltzer's versions of these famed women are bold, distinctive, and spirited. He deviates from their conventional renderings, offering readers a rousing take that sees Helen, Cassandra, Hecuba, and more painted in an appealingly formidable light." - BookLife Reviews