Beauty's Daughter: The Story of Hermione and Helen of Troy
Meyer’s latest historical novel delves into Greek mythology with a retelling of the Trojan War from the point of view of Hermione, the daughter of Helen and Menelaus of Sparta. Hermione lives in the shadow of her vainglorious mother, whose beauty bewitches all men. Though her mother is often critical or neglectful, Hermione is hurt when Helen runs away with Paris, abandoning her and her father but taking her brother. Menelaus and the Greek army follow in the lovers’ wake, with Hermione as a stowaway. As the war wages, Hermione grows into a woman with her own romantic and political prospects, including an arranged marriage to a hated man. The dry litany of Greek figures and myths that Hermione recites throughout the story may provide context, but they overshadow the scant details she offers about her own life. Still, the sheer scope and brutality of the war and the complications caused by the gods’ meddling are absorbing; if anything, this account should whet readers’ interest in additional source material. Grades 8-11. --Krista Hutley