Stephanie Jane reviewed Elektra by Jennifer Saint
OK, but needed deeper characters for me
3 stars
I thought I would enjoy Elektra a lot more than I actually did. A retelling of the mythological Trojan War story from a female perspective sounded like just my sort of book, however ultimately I did not feel that Jennifer Saint's novel was in the same class as The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood or Crown Of Ivy by Victoria Audley. It is also confusingly titled. Elektra does play a vital role in the story, but I would say that this novel primarily tells Clytemnestra's experiences with the eponymous Elektra only really coming to the fore in the later chapters. Perhaps the older woman's name wasn't considered snappy enough for a book cover?
Saint's interpretation of the Trojan War myth recounts events from the time when the beautiful Helen runs off to Troy with Paris and it is primarily set in Mycenae, Agamemnon's kingdom where his wife - and Helen's sister …
I thought I would enjoy Elektra a lot more than I actually did. A retelling of the mythological Trojan War story from a female perspective sounded like just my sort of book, however ultimately I did not feel that Jennifer Saint's novel was in the same class as The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood or Crown Of Ivy by Victoria Audley. It is also confusingly titled. Elektra does play a vital role in the story, but I would say that this novel primarily tells Clytemnestra's experiences with the eponymous Elektra only really coming to the fore in the later chapters. Perhaps the older woman's name wasn't considered snappy enough for a book cover?
Saint's interpretation of the Trojan War myth recounts events from the time when the beautiful Helen runs off to Troy with Paris and it is primarily set in Mycenae, Agamemnon's kingdom where his wife - and Helen's sister - Clytemnestra eagerly awaits his return throughout the ten long years of the siege war. She is enraged and desperately wants revenge on Agamemnon for his betrayal of their eldest daughter. That betrayal scene, for me, was one of the most vivid and real in the whole novel - a moment where the ancient myth truly sprang to life. I felt Saint completely understood Clytemnestra's anguish and got to the heart of her character.
Unfortunately those moments seemed too few and far between to really keep my interest. Perhaps if I didn't already know the underlying myth so well, I might have got more from reading Elektra. As it was, I kept turning pages and did read to the end, however without the enthusiasm I had anticipated. I didn't think that Saint's retelling brought out anything new and, although she did centre the female voices, I didn't feel as though these women were truly driving their narrative. I'm not even sure why Cassandra was chosen as one of the trio as she comes across as peripheral at best.