Elektra by Jennifer Saint

‘The House of Atreus carried a curse.’

In this novel, Ms Saint gives us a different view of the story of Helen and the Trojan War. The story unfolds through the first-person perspectives of three women: Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon and twin sister of Helen; Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy and his wife Hecabe, cursed with prophetic vision by Apollo but not believed; and Elektra, the youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.

Elektra is still a child when her father leads the Greek army against Troy. It takes ten years for Troy to fall, during which Elektra waits for her father to return.

Clytemnestra wants revenge on Agamemnon for the sacrifices he has made to pursue this war:

‘In the light of the rising sun, I prayed that my husband would survive this war and come home safe to me. I wanted no Trojan soldier to take what was mine; no glory-seeking warrior to seize his chance of fame by plunging his sword into Agamemnon’s heart Let him come back, I hissed into the empty sky. Let him come back so that I can see his eyes as the light drains from them. Let him come back and die at the hands of his bitterest enemy. Let him come back so that I can watch him suffer. And let me make it slow.’

In Troy, Cassandra tries to warn the Trojans of the devastation she foresees but is regarded as mad.

Three complex women with very different views and motivations. Revenge, as Clytemnestra and Elektra learn, extracts its own price.  The House of Atreus does indeed carry a curse.

I enjoyed this novel with its different view of the impact and consequences of the Trojan War. Ms Saint made each of these very different women come to life. And yes, at different stages I felt sympathy for each of them, but especially for Cassandra.

I am now looking forward to Ms Saint’s third novel ‘Atalanta’, due for publication in April 2023.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith