The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Pat Barker has taken the story of the Iliad and given a voice to some of the women who are mentioned but not noticed in the stories.  History is written by the victors and that doesn't include women.  This retelling of the Trojan Wars,  in particular Achilles and Agamemnon, from the view point of Briseis, a teenage Queen, of ransacked Lyrnessus, given to Achilles as part of his 'spoils of war'.  Seen from the view point of a woman with no standing except that she is the 'trophy' of a powerful warrior, this book is a interesting discourse on the plight of women. Referred to as 'it', displayed, defiled and ignored the women's lives are precarious, and dependent on keeping their man 'happy'.  Somethings appears not to have changed much in thousands of years - to be given, traded, fucked and abused, women have to find their place where they can.  Brutal and uncomfortable reading, mixing the known stories from the Iliad with imagined scenarios, this brilliant book gives voice to the unheard bringing to life the dirt, blood and harshness of a battle camp. It also explores the psychology of the 'hero' Achilles inured to death, bored of battle and fixated on his goddess mother.

The discussion was broad, a number of us didn't know well the stories of the Iliad, and therefore had difficulty in understanding the relationships between the men and why they were fighting etc.  Having said that Achilles, was more man and less godlike in this story, a warrior who knows his business, but is plagued by PTSD. We generally thought the end was weak, but most of us loved the book. 

Words used to describe it:  sympathy for the girls, survival, co-modified, chattels, absorbing

Marks out of 10: we all gave it 8

If you want to listen there is an interesting podcast interview: Pat Barker with Eleanor Wachtel

Next Book

The Salt Path by Raynar Winn

Next Meeting

Friday 4th September

at Carolyn's

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernandine Everisto

This book follows the lives of 12 different women through their lives, loves and struggles. The mainly British and black women and girls give us a  Britain which challenges us with its glimpse into their lives.  Cleverly linking together various women through the last century. Each of the 12 characters is given a chapter, occasionally other characters appear and overlap, but essentially each character has a different life, choices and background.  From gender identity,  a career woman, a young bride from Barbados in an unhappy marriage, an abusive lesbian relationship  All very diverse lives but eloquently written.  These characters are elegant vessels to discuss and illustrate the many and varied lives of British black women.

The book generated a good discussion about identity, colour, race and being a woman.  

Words used to describe it:  marvelous, rich storytelling, better on the second reading, too many characters, irritating, humanity

Marks out of 10: between 5 - 9

 

Next Book

Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Next meeting 

Friday 14th August at 126

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

8 years following many women, results in a book of three women and their sex lives, general lives and loves.

I think that this reveiw on Goodreads explains it best:

 

May 24, 2019 Roman Clodia 

This is quite a perplexing book as I'm not sure what Taddeo's intentions were. She takes three American women and tells their stories of failed love, disappointing marriages, unmet or unfulfilled sexual and emotional needs.

In some ways, the stories are different and, almost deliberately (?) echo themes covered in recent fiction: Lina, in a sexless marriage falls into an affair with her high-school boyfriend; Maggie is 'groomed' into a sexual relationship with her high-school teacher; Sloane finds herself introduced to open marriage built around a ménage theme, and recognises herself as a submissive after reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.

And yet, all three have commonalities: all three women are essentially unfulfilled; all are, to greater or lesser extents, exploited by men. Lina and Maggie are desperately pleading for love from married men who call them up when they choose. Sloane has a troubled history of anorexia/bulimia and despite her seeming assurance, traces early examples of male familial disapproval which affected her adolescence.

What I found disturbing about the book is a seeming gender essentialism which shows us, abject women, in thrall to powerful men who control their relationships whether through being unavailable emotionally and physically, sometimes because they're married, or, in the case of Sloane, by a voyeurism which makes her the sexualised object beneath a dual male gaze. The overall tone is one of dysfunctional masochism, especially in the cases of Lina and Maggie.

It's fascinating to see other women's inner lives but it's also frustrating to see how much pain, misery and lack of agency inhabit these (love) lives. The implication seems to be that whatever happens to level the playing field for women publicly and professionally, there's still an underground struggle for some women who want to be loved in ways that their men and their own choices seem to preclude.

Words used to describe it: (not given yet)

Marks out of 10: (not given yet)

Next book

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

 

Next Meeting

In the garden of 117

17 July 2020

after Gin by the Bins