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Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati


A wonderful and delightful reimagining of Clytemnestra. Once wife, then slayer of Agamemnon of Mycenae. This story, told by "Clytemnestra" from a very personal viewpoint, daughter of the king of Sparta and a warrior born and trained, is told in a journalistic style. Short sharp prose which seems jarring at first but then it seeps into you. Suddenly, a couple of chapters in, your mind makes the leap, and you begin to understand the author's method. From that point on you are hooked. Clytemnestra is neither the shrinking violet nor the dominator suggested by Greek myth; she is simply a strong woman trying to make her way through a difficult life. Hard, from her upbringing as a daughter of Sparta, but a girl none the less, under the auspices of a supremely dominant husband that killed her children she was almost Compelled to rebel. She did.
I thought this was a marvelous novel. Powerful and compelling once you grow used to the sharp journalistic style. I have only good things to say about it. Lol- apart from the fact the back cover was feminist. Don't you ladies know that men can appreciate the trails of women as well?
A cracker of a novel that I would recommend to all, Men and Women. Not for young children.
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