Helen of Troy
by Margaret George
Published by Viking
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Review by Kathy Perschmann, Chanhassen (MN) Librarian
Margaret George tells the story of the mythic Helen of Troy, from her childhood in Sparta with her mother, Leda, to her death, many, many years later. George is brilliant at writing historical novels, using her research to create real characters and a realistic and accurate setting for them.
In her youth Helen's beauty was hidden from the outside world by walls and veils, but eventually she married the staid Menelaus, brother of her sister Clytemnestra's husband, Agamemnon. All the familiar characters are here: Priam, Hector, Aeneas, Paris, Achilles and Odysseus. Menelaus was the quiet brother, and Agamemnon the war-mongering glory seeker.
When an envoy from Troy comes to discuss restitution for the kidnapping of King Priam of Troy's sister many years earlier, it is Menelaus who hosts the guests and asks for caution. Both Agamemnon and Menelaus must travel to Crete for their grandfather's funeral. Helen must host the guests, and soon she realizes her inescapable attraction to Paris.
The gods have a place in this story as well, and Aphrodite, especially important to this story, appears to Helen several times. Of course, Zeus was Helen's father, the only female mortal he acknowledged as his child. The Trojan War itself is depicted in all its vivid and dark destruction.
Armchair Interviews says: Over 600 pages, this historical novel will delight you with romance and glory, tragedy and longing.