There is truly not one thing I would have changed about Clytemnestra, and I just might have found my new favorite author. For fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen. I will say that I was not expecting to like the book as much as I did because the beginning of the book did start out a little slow. She has a degree in journalism from Napier University and, in preparation for writing her novels, gained a diploma in classical studies from the Open University. So many depictions of strong, powerful women, especially modern ones, present a career-driven, ambitious woman that has little to no interest in or love for children.

On her deathbed, Clytemnestra’s grandmother tells Clytemnestra and Helen that their family is a “dynasty of queens” and that “you girls will be remembered longer than your brothers”. Ablaze with transporting moments of deep tenderness and visceral ferocity, Casati's Clytemnestra gives the phrase 'fight like a girl' its rightfully heroic and empowering meaning!

If her message is cryptic in that moment, it becomes increasingly clear as the two princesses grow older and face one betrayal after another.

Hmm, I don’t mind some present tense narrative providing it serves a dramatic purpose within a past tense story – anything more and I find it exhausting in a full length novel (less so in a novella or short story). Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, is often regarded as one of Greek mythology’s greatest villains because she killed the husband that murdered two of her children. When we meet Clytemnestra, she is a young princess of Sparta; a hunter and fighter who is close to her family, especially to her sister, Helen, the famed beauty who later flees for Troy. In the course of the story, we meet several prominent characters from the Greek myths such as Helen of Troy and Odysseus among others. Years later, he kills his and Clytemnestra’s daughter, Iphigenia, as a sacrifice to turn the winds in the Greek army’s favour.

This book delves into Clytemnestra as an individual, following her girlhood and progressing into her forcible marriage to Agamemnon. The Greek myths are ingrained in our psyche, but they are the tales of the victors and particularly the men.

This trend continued in her marriage to Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, who, to satisfy the gods before the Trojan war, sacrifices their daughter Iphigenia. Growing up as a princess of Sparta, she was privy to the horrors of war and the brutality of men, especially that of her father and brothers. Despite the essential plot beats being well-known, Casati makes this grim tale feel fresh through vivid imagery and nuanced characterizations. Queen Clytemnestra’s world shatters when Agamemnon, a rival to the throne of Mycenae, storms her palace, destroys her family and claims not only the throne but Clytemnestra herself.Casati, who was a scholar of Ancient Greek literature for over five years, balances informative descriptions of the Ancient Greek world with an entertaining and accessible style.