A Thousand Ships

Critics Review

• With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War. Her thoughtful portraits will linger with you long after the book is finished

  Madeline Miller, author of Circe

• Natalie Haynes is swiftly becoming this generation’s Mary Renault; her retelling of the Trojan war from an all-female perspective, A Thousand Ships, is her best yet.

  Observer

• Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories

  Telegraph

• Absorbing and fiercely feminist

  Guardian

• The forgotten women are vividly brought to life in this moving, intelligent and witty book

  Martha Kearney, BBC Radio 4

• Elegant, intelligent . . . Haynes combines a wide-ranging knowledge of the original myths with a gift for compelling narrative

  The Times

• A joy to read: fast paced, cracking with emotion and tension

  Professor Michael Scott

• Here, in this treat of a book, the women take centre stage – and how brilliantly . . . Natalie Haynes brings them to witty, lyrical, scintillating life . . . A book to both savour and devour

  Suzannah Lipscomb

• Breathtaking . . . Her writing isn’t merely clever, or elegant, or (at times) extremely funny – though it is all of those things. It’s also viscerally vivid.

  Catherine Nixey

• This subversive reseeing of the classics is a many-layered delight

  Guardian

• Haynes takes the baton from Renault and runs with it. Her modern take on antiquity is exquisitely informed without ever being research-heavy . . . Glorious!

  Damien Barr

• If you are new to myths, then this is a learned, well-fashioned introduction, with many shining moments of subtle power

  Spectator

• Haynes expertly crafts an emotional and vivid historical tale with high stakes and female empowerment at its core

  Woman's Own

• Haynes is the nation’s great muse, and her latest retelling of the story of Troy told from the perspective of Helen and the women of The Iliad is beautiful

  The Week

• Natalie Haynes is a clever, classy classicist, and her book turns the Trojan War into a gripping feminist masterpiece

  Deborah Frances-White

• A collection of wonderfully creative feminist stories, written and narrated by classicist Natalie Haynes. . . She. . . imbues these underrepresented female characters with humanity, wit, and strength. She has a good range, too. Some stories–especially those of the Trojan women–are emotionally wrenching. Others, like Penelope’s increasingly frustrated letters to Odysseus, have a distinct comedic touch.

  AudioFile