I was interested, but I also kept putting the book aside and waffling around on Instagram instead of returning to it. However, instead of focusing on the male heroes who usually helm such tales, Saint instead tells the story through the lens of three women: Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra, their daughter Elektra, and Apollo’s cursed prophetess Cassandra. So I was very excited to read a new POV on Greek stories that I knew as well as learning some new ones I hadn’t experienced before.Įlektra is a fairly straight retelling of the events of the Trojan War and its aftermath. I know the basics of the Trojan War-Helen of Troy and the Trojan horse-but I was bleary on some of the more specific details, and even though I know the story of Cassandra, I somehow didn’t realize that she was part of this period. I’ve heard the stories about Odysseus and Penelope many times, but wasn’t familiar with Clytemnestra. I know Achilles well, but had never heard of Elektra.

I’m less familiar with the stories of heroes than gods, and I’ve never actually read The Iliad (I know, I know) so the main stories in Elektra were only peripherally familiar to me. I’ve also heard great things about Saint’s first novel Ariadne. I’ve loved Greek mythology since I was a kid, I adore Percy Jackson and have since I was younger, and am amongst the many, many people who are obsessed with Madeline Miller’s retellings.

In general, those selections aren’t particularly in line with my personal preferences-they tend to go for depressing literary fiction that touches on the most disturbing elements of the modern world, like pandemics and political extremism-but this one really excited me. I was very excited when Elektra by Jennifer Saint was selected for the Barnes and Noble book club.

Elektra book review