Helen Of Troy - A Novel [Hardcover]

Margaret George (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 540 pages
• Publisher: Viking Penguin (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405032677
• ISBN-13: 978-1405032674
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,291,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret George specializes in epic fictional biographies of historical figures, taking pains to make them as factually accurate as possible without compromising the drama. Her THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII will have its 25th anniversary this September, and continues to be popular. ABC-TV based its 1999 Emmy-nominated "Cleopatra" miniseries on her THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA. All of her books have been bestsellers, with twenty-one foreign translations.

Margaret's father was in the Foreign Service and so she lived overseas for her early life, in such different places as tropical Taiwan, desert Israel, and cold war Berlin, all of which were great training for a novelist to be. She started writing 'books' about the same time as she could write at all, mainly for her own entertainment. It was a diversion she never outgrew. Her published works are: THE AUTOBIOGAPHY OF HENRY VIII, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES, THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA, MARY CALLED MAGDALENE, HELEN OF TROY, ELIZABETH I, and an illustrated children's book, LUCILLE LOST.

Margaret lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington DC, and has a sextagenarian tortoise as a pet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book won't launch a thousand ships-but it's still good, August 7, 2006

By 

Lilly Flora "by Lilo Drandoff" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Helen of Troy (Hardcover)

"Helen of Troy" is the latest offering of the amazing historical novelist Margaret George. She writes very long books encompassing the whole life of a real person, bumps and all. Her work on Henry VIII is the ultimate for Tudor fans, her novel on Cleopatra was beyond compare and now we have this-a very good book, but not her best work.

Unlike her past novels "Helen of Troy" feels more like a story and less like a total life history of the narrator. Not that this is bad, but even though some scenes are included this book has very little of Helen's early life or later life, focusing mainly on the war of Troy. Some of the mythological info on Helen's early life, such as her abduction by Theseus, is even left out of this novel, which acts to give it a more normal feel and make Helen an unusual, but not extraordinary woman of her time. Thus it is more of a story novel, and a bit unlike her past works.

When I read earlier this year "The Memoirs of Helen of Troy" by Amanda Elyot I said that Helen was a poor choice of narrator for her own life story. Ms. George proved me wrong in this. While Ms. Elyot's Helen was conceited and selfish, Helen in Ms. George's book is a normal woman of the time-and for all that she's beautiful, she may not be the most beautiful woman in the world. There is even doubt in this novel as to Zeus being her real father. Thus as a narrator, Helen does a great job of bringing the tragedy and beauty of Troy to life. She's a real person that it's pretty easy to identify with.

I also liked how Ms. George handled the Greek gods in this book. They were real, but elusive, changeable and not understandable by humans. They could be terribly mean and see it as kindness and acting to placate them was a large part of daily life. Ms. George strikes a good balance between fantasy and religion in her handling of them.

I would give this book a solid four stars. Not five because unlike her earlier works (such as her novel on Cleopatra) this novel is not mesmerizing-it does not sieze your attention in and hold in it place. Still though, it is a good novel and by far the best retelling of the Troy story I have read.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXCEPTIONAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE, September 19, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Helen of Troy (Audio CD)

Throughout the ages there is one story that continues to intrigue us, losing none of its fascination despite the passage of time, and that is the myth of Helen of Troy. She was, as we know, an incomparable beauty, the woman whose "face launched a thousand ships" and she was also a woman in love whose elopement led to the Trojan War, which is found in Homer's Iliad.

A daughter of Leda, Queen of Sparta, Helen is said to be fathered by none other than Zeus. Still in her teens she is wed to her brother-in-law, Menelaus, which was a politically advantageous arrangement. He probably would not have been her choice, although she did give him a daughter. Nonetheless, it was a loveless marriage.

When Helen first saw the handsome Trojan prince, Paris, the course of history was changed. Before long the two became lovers and fled to Troy. (Depending upon the source, Helen either gladly left Menelaus and her daughter to go with Paris or she was abducted by him.)

Whatever the case, Paris lost his life in the Trojan War and Helen married his brother, Deiphobus, who was later killed by Menelaus. At one time Menelaus had sworn to kill the wife who had forsaken him, but upon seeing Helen again he could not bring himself to do so.

Esteemed author Margaret George (The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scotland) has given us a remarkable work by telling the story in Helen's voice. We are treated to a seldom found immediacy and view of life in Helen's day.

Speaking of voices, classically trained actress Justine Eyre delivers a stunning performance as Helen. Her voice is young, distinct, with just a touch of an accent, very much the way we would expect Helen to sound. At times, she brings a wistfulness to Helen, especially in the Prologue as we hear "I flew back to Troy, no it was more like floating...."

Truly an exceptional listening experience - enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite up to par with the author's other books, May 25, 2008

By 

Melissa Niksic (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Helen of Troy (Paperback)

"Helen of Troy" is a very good book, but it's not author Margaret George's best work. Because Helen is a mythological character, many of the details of her life are rather ambiguous, and so George took many more liberties with this novel than with most of her other books. However, the core of the story remains true to popular mythology. When Helen is a young girl, a seer predicts that the beautiful Spartan princess will be the cause of great tragedy. Helen goes on to marry Menelaus and become the queen of Sparta. The marriage lacks passion, and when Paris, a young Trojan man, visits Sparta, he and Helen fall madly in love. Helen decides to escape with Paris to Troy, leaving her family, husband, and daughter Hermione behind. Helen's actions bring about the Trojan War, and many lives are lost as a result.

One of the problems with this book is that Helen is not a very likeable character. George tries to portray Helen as a strong woman, which she is, but she's also an incredibly selfish person who rejected her family, abandoned her daughter and her duties as queen, and caused a great many people to die...all because she was lusting over Paris. It's hard to come to terms with all that, even though George does her best to gloss over those rather huge portions in the story. As a result, the pacing of the book is rather tedious in places, and failed to capture my attention like "The Autobiography of King Henry VIII" and "Memoirs of Cleopatra." Still, George is a great storyteller, and as someone who is very interested in mythology, I enjoyed reading this new take on a classic tale. "Helen of Troy" is a worthwhile read, but I definitely prefer George's earlier works.