Readers intimately familiar with the mythology and those new to this classic story alike will find themselves breathlessly turning the pages as Heywood unspools the tragic consequences of Helen’s actions and the horrific sacrifice Klytemnestra is forced to make. She and her father settle on Menelaus, Agamemnon’s brother, but after the harrowing birth of her daughter, Helen starts to pull away from her husband, setting off a chain of events that culminates in her absconding with the handsome knave Paris and igniting the Trojan War. Helen is anointed the heir instead, in part as cover for her dubious parentage, and suitors from all over the realm show up to compete for her hand.

Klytemnestra, the elder, expects to be the heir to the Spartan throne, so she’s shocked when her father decides to marry her off to Agamemnon of Mycenae, which will separate her from her family. Heywood introduces them as girls, daughters of the king of Sparta, who already know at a young age that they have important destinies. Yet even as queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women.īut when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemnestra must push against the constraints of their society to carve new lives for themselves, and in doing so, make waves that will ripple throughout the next 3,000 years.ĭaughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating reimagining of the Siege of Troy, told through the perspectives of two women whose voices have been ignored for far too long.Heywood’s engrossing first novel follows the fortunes of two of the most famous women in the ancient world, the sisters and princesses Klytemnestra and Helen, renowned for her exquisite beauty. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father's choosing - Helen remains in Sparta to be betrothed to Menelaos, and Klytemnestra is sent alone to an unfamiliar land to become the wife of the powerful Agamemnon. Daughters of Sparta USA National Bestseller US release: 22 June 2021 UK release: 22 July 2021 Helen of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra are reimagined in this gorgeous retelling of the classic Greek myth not as women defined by their husbands and lovers but as battle-weary survivors of a patriarchal society who take control of their own destiny. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister, Klytemnestra.Īs princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty.

For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships - but now it's time to hear her side of the story.

Claire heywood daughters of sparta