Customer Reviews

Inside the Walls of Troy: A Novel of the Women Who Lived the Trojan War

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(9)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Inside the Walls of Troy" is the most wonderful action- filled, heart-touching book about the Greek times I have ever read .It is told by two very different Greek Princesses. The first part of the book is told by Helen of Sparta,who later becames Helen of Troy. Helen's story starts when she is declared the most beautiful, mortal women in all the world. At twelve she is kidnapped by pirates. When she is finally returned to her father, many men want her hand in marrige. Her father chooses a nobleman named Menelaus,who she is forced to marry. Soon after, Helen fell deeply in love with Menelaus'good friend named Paris and runs away to Troy with him. The second part of the book is told by Cassandra, Paris' sister. She tells about the war between Sparta and Troy .This war was fought because Paris would not give Helen back to her husband, Menelaus.If there was one thing I could change it would be to make the book longer. I loved it and recommend it highly.

This was one of the most fantastic books I have ever read. As a fervent feminist and lover of Greek mythology and history, this book appealled to me from all aspects. It re-tells the Trojan War from the viewpoint of Cassandra and Helen. No one knows what the women were really like, but Clemence McLaren did an excellent job in making them appear three-dimensional and realistic. All our records of the war (e.g. Homer) have discussed the men. It's time the women got some recognition! Anyway, this was an amazing book. I recommend you read it. You may cry at the end.

We've heard the male version of the Trojan War for centuries. What about the women involved? How did Helen feel? What would it have been like to be Cassandra and have to watch your brothers head off into battle? The author takes you there. While personally I believe she could have included even more viewpoints of other women, and switched back and forth between Helen and Cassandra, the author opted to start with Helen's life as a child and switch to Cassandra's viewpoint after Helen arrives in Troy. While many would think this would make the book a bit unbalanced, it actually works quite well, as we see Cassandra's feelings towards Helen greatly change over the many years Troy is under siege. Overall, a pretty enjoyable read.

"Inside the Walls of Troy"
I personally think that "Inside the Walls of Troy" is a great book. It is generally meant to be read by girls. If you are interested in what was happening around the Greek era this is a great book for you. If you are also interested in what women have done to contribute in our history this is also a good book for you.
"Inside the Walls of Troy" gives two women perspectives. The first half of the book is in the perspective of Helen Queen of Sparta. The second half of the book is in Princess Cassandra of Troy's perspective. This book is all about what was happening inside the walls of Troy during the Trojan War. This is a great book for people who are just starting off learning about Greek history, but it's also a great book if you know everything there is to know about Greek history.
In the beginning of the book Helen deceives her husband and sails off with the stunning Prince Paris. At first Cassandra, Paris's sister has a lot of hatred toward Helen. Later on she can't help but start to like the beautiful and friendly young woman. This book is all about the growing friendship of two women inside the walls of Troy.
Overall I think "Inside the Walls of Troy" is a great book. After all I've read it twice. I think the book is definitely worth reading. If you're like me you'll love it.

This was a very interesting book. It was not the usual happy ever after story where the Prince carries the Princess off and they get married. This tells the story like it actually is. War is not only when the good side wins. The gore,blood,the grime, and sweat of the warriors is told as realistically as possible. This book is about a ten year long war. A young girl named Helen, renowned as the most beautiful women in the world, was married to a man named Menelaus. One day a young handsome stranger named Paris comes along. Helen immediately falls in love with him. Helen and Paris elope together back to Troy. Menelaus is outraged. First he tries to send a delegation to Troy to ask for Helen's return. King Priam, the King of Troy, refuses. Priam loves Helen himself and thinks that she will be the prize of the city. Menelaus declares war on Troy, so Troy and Greeks go to War. The first part of the book, is told by Helen, but then the story switches to Cassandra's point of view. Cassandra is a Trojan woman. She is really stubborn and likes to stand up for what she believes in. Like Helen, she wants control over her own life. Cassandra also had the gift of seeing the future. She predicts that this whole war is going to happen. At first she is a little wary of Helen, but then they grow to be great friends. The only thing that they disagree on is Paris. Cassandra thinks that Paris is lazy and self-centered. Helen thinks that Paris is the most gorgeous and loving person in the world. The war wages on for ten long and weary years. Thousands of men die and no one even knows what it is over anymore. In the end one side wins. To find out read the book! I really liked how Ms. Mclaren told it from two of the womens' points of view. She really described how they were thinking and feeling. I think I liked it from Cassandra's story better then Helen's. Cassandra is more of a deep person. Helen is rather shallow and only cares about looks more than feelings. She regrets going over to Paris, now that this whole war has started over her. The only part of the book that left me hanging was the ending. WHAT HAPPENS TO CASSANDRA? I have just got to find out. I don't like any of the suggestions in the epilogue. I think that Ms. Mclauren should write a new book about what happens to Cassandra. She should make it up herself and not refer to Homer's book at all. Read this book if you like epic tales!

My sixth grade class at Laurel School read Inside the Walls of Troy. Before that, we had just finished reading a book about Troy and the Trojan War. Our class did have an idea of who the characters where, but we didn't know too much about the women. Inside the Walls of Troy gave us a great picture of how the women lived and felt during this awful war. There was Cassandra, a seer, who was supposedly given the gift of "sight" by the god of music, Apollo. There was also Helen, the most beautiful women in the world who was married off to Menelaus, an ugly, hairy armed, loving man. These are the two main women in this book and there are actually two parts about them. You start off with Helen being the main character. In this part, you start off with Helen living in Sparta with her sister Penelope and her maid Hessia. Theseus comes and kidnaps Helen and tries to show her how to be a proper lady. Helen is thirteen at the time and her brothers come and save her. When she goes home, suitors await her all wanting her hand in marriage. Everyone is in awe over Helen's beauty and have to make the vow of the horse not to hurt or kill her husband or any of his family. Helen marries Menelaus and they become rulers of Sparta. After a while, they have their first child, Hermione who Menelaus adores. Menelaus invites a Trojan to maybe make a truce over brewing trade problems. Paris came and ends up running away with Helen. They flee to Troy where they plan to live happily ever after. In the second part, which is more about Cassandra, Cassandra is having one of her daily visions and sees Paris returning with Helen. She sees disaster ahead for Troy. She goes to tell her brother, Helenus, who also has the gift of sight. When Helen does come, Cassandra is afraid, but as the story goes on, it tells about their friendship and troubles. Inside the Walls of Troy now is one of my favorite books to read and I strongly encourage other people to read it. I'm sure you too will love this wonderful book with great vocabulary and will want other people to read it. Clemence McLaren has done a great job of writing Inside the Walls of Troy with facts and a twist of some things she made up. You'll find yourself feeling like you too are part of the book and experiencing the Trojan War.

I am 12, and as a school project I read this book. My teacher had a passion for the Greek myths, so he thought this was a good book to read. He often read Homer's books to us. It would mostly talk about men and their involvement in the Trojan War. I was supprised and grateful that Clemence McClaren potraied a womens point of view of the Trojan war, and can't wait for her next book! She came to talk to us about what the book was trying to get the reader to think. I think that the book was trying to tell us that the women suffered too. Sometimes their consequences were grater than the men's. I highly recomend this fantastic book and see for yourself the inside of the walls of Troy.

A Wonderful book,especially for a young adult. A captivating and well written novel.

The novel is about History, Valor and love. It focus's mainly on the women how lived during the trojan war and their lives, decisions, and Honour. Helen of sparta, could have had any thing she wanted, except the one thing she wanted, love. Cassanndra has visions of the future and know's that Helen will bring war to Troy, but still she finds comfort and love in Helen. The book tells of these two women and their lives and believes. It's the best book I've read in years!

Inside the Walls of Troy is a fascinating novel for young readers who love historical fiction. I bought this book out of a Scholastic magazine and fell in love with it! When I need a great book to read, I always turn to Inside the Walls of Troy. It is a wonderful story because it gives you two differant perspectives: one of the 12 year old princess, Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world. The other is from a 19 year old girl named Cassandra, who foresees the future. If you love romances, war stories, and mysteries, you will love Inside the Walls of Troy!!!