Pre-Reading Thoughts on Margaret George's "Helen of Troy"

So far, I have had a tough relationship with Margaret George, to say the least. So far, her only two books I've read have been The Confessions of Young Nero and its sequel, The Splendor Before the Dark. I do, however, want to read more of her books. I like her writing style so far and how she builds up her stories.

However, I had a bit of a problem with the two books I've read by her. You can see my reviews at the following links: The Confessions of Young Nero review and The Splendor Before the Dark review. The main problem I had was that George took a very apologist view toward Nero, which didn't sit well with me.

But that's not what I want to talk about in this post. Today, I want to talk about another one of Margaret George's books: Helen of Troy.

One cover of Margaret George's
Helen of Troy

This book has been on my radar for a little while now. I finally bought it in November 2020, and let's just say that my heart immediately sank upon reading the synopsis. Before, all I knew is that this book was that it's a retelling of the Trojan War from Helen's perspective. Despite it being a force of habit, I immediately regretted reading the synopsis on the back. Honestly . . . I still regret it because now I'm feeling "meh" about the book, when before, I was a bit excited for it.

For a bit of reference, here's the synopsis:

A lush, seductive novel of the legendary beauty whose face launched a thousand ships Daughter of a god, wife of a king, prize of antiquity's bloodiest war, Helen of Troy has inspired artists for millennia. Now, Margaret George, the highly acclaimed bestselling historical novelist, has turned her intelligent, perceptive eye to the myth that is Helen of Troy. Margaret George breathes new life into the great Homeric tale by having Helen narrate her own story. Through her eyes and in her voice, we experience the young Helen's discovery of her divine origin and her terrifying beauty. While hardly more than a girl, Helen married the remote Spartan king Menelaus and bore him a daughter. By the age of twenty, the world's most beautiful woman was resigned to a passionless marriage until she encountered the handsome Trojan prince Paris. And once the lovers flee to Troy, war, murder, and tragedy become inevitable. In Helen of Troy, Margaret George has captured a timeless legend in a mesmerizing tale of a woman whose life was destined to create strife and destroy civilizations.

I was so excited for a Trojan War retelling from Helen's POV. Although I wasn't very excited for this book because of my previous experience with Margaret George, I was still relatively excited for it. That is, as I've said, until I read the synopsis.

The synopsis annoys me to no end. And there are three main reasons for this.

Reason 1: She's "the world's most beautiful woman [and] resigned to a passionless marriage."

Reason 2: She needs to be saved from a loveless ("passionless") marriage BY ANOTHER MAN.

Reason 3: The synopsis is seemingly disregarding THE ROLE OF THE GODS IN THIS WHOLE FREAKING STORY.

I am planning to give this book a try this year, mainly because I know that, sometimes, the synopsis doesn't give everything away. And I am really hoping that my expectations for this book are surpassed in a good way.