Inside the Walls of Troy : A Novel of the Women Who Lived the Trojan War

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Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: This book so great. I recommend this book to everyone. I am 15 years old and I watch a lot of movies. Especially Helen of Troy, and a lot with Vitamin C in it. YOUR #1 VC. Anyway this book is adventure with the Trojan War. I wish I can go back in time and take play of Helen or Cassandra. That would be spectacular.

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Summary: Inside the Walls of Troy
Review: "Inside the Walls of Troy" is the most wonderful action- filled, heart-touching book about the Greek times I have ever read .It is told by two very different Greek Princesses. The first part of the book is told by Helen of Sparta,who later becames Helen of Troy. Helen's story starts when she is declared the most beautiful, mortal women in all the world. At twelve she is kidnapped by pirates. When she is finally returned to her father, many men want her hand in marrige. Her father chooses a nobleman named Menelaus,who she is forced to marry. Soon after, Helen fell deeply in love with Menelaus'good friend named Paris and runs away to Troy with him. The second part of the book is told by Cassandra, Paris' sister. She tells about the war between Sparta and Troy .This war was fought because Paris would not give Helen back to her husband, Menelaus.If there was one thing I could change it would be to make the book longer. I loved it and recommend it highly.

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Summary: Praise for "Inside the Walls of Troy"
Review: "Inside the Walls of Troy" was my introduction to "through the women's eyes mythology." I absolutely loved it. I didn't want to put it down. I even ignored my teacher to read the next page. When I was reading about these women, I was not in tune with the world around me. All there was was myself, and Helen or Cassandra. I found Cassandra's story especially engrossing.
Her character, was very different. She knew so much, that it was painful not to tell. She wanted to save lives, when noone would let her. At every moment her knowledge turned out to be true, I wanted to say "D'uh!! How blind are you? She said that would happen!"
This story tells about the lives of two women, who are living in harder times.They are unlikely friends,but become so, despite what sets them apart.
If this book appealed to you, then I suggest Clemence Mclarens other works: "Waiting for Oddyseus" and especially "Aphrodite's
Blessings"

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Summary: Great introduction into one of history's most famous wars
Review: Clemence McLaren transforms the mythical world of Homer's Trojan War into an easy-to-read story for kids and teenagers.

The book is written in first person point-of-view from the perspectives of two women (pictured on the cover): Helen of Troy and Cassandra, a skilled prophetess. Helen, a Spartan princess renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world, tells her story first. She relates how she was kidnapped by Theseus at age 12, married off to Menelaus upon her arrival back home, and later "kidnapped" again by a Trojan prince named Paris. This second kidnapping sparks the famous Trojan War, at which point the story switches to the viewpoint of Cassandra, a daughter of the Trojan King Priam and a prophetess whom no one but her brother believes. Cassandra takes over the narrative for the rest of the book, telling all about the events of the 10-year war and her role in them.

But Inside the Walls of Troy isn't just about the epic battles. McLaren also turns it into a tale of the fight for freedom and, basically, women's rights. Both Helen and Cassandra rebel against the traditional role of women at the time. Cassandra is especially opposed to getting married just for the sake of strengthening her father's political alliances, and she refuses to sit back and do nothing during the war. An extremely strong-willed character, she fights to protect those she cares about, even up to the very end when Troy burns. For young girls especially, Cassandra is a person one can relate to, since McLaren did an excellent job portraying her as a real multi-dimensional person.

However, there were several flaws in the book. For one thing, McLaren condensed the last few years of the war into only a few pages, making the ending seem rushed. And, besides Cassandra, there were no especially memorable figures. Even the other characters lacked some depth, including Helen. McLaren didn't really spend a lot of time talking about the other women who lived through the war, only mentioning them briefly. Helen and Cassandra were the only two main characters, and Helen came off looking like a brainless romantic ditz.

But despite these flaws, which to less critical readers may be all but undetectable, Inside the Walls of Troy is a treat. It's a great introduction into the world of Greek mythology because it presents a simplified version of the events of the Trojan War while bringing those legendary heroes to life. Well worth the money for any historical-fiction lover.

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Summary: Inside the Walls of Troy--A beautifully written book!
Review: In reading the book, Inside the Walls of Troy, I felt like I was really interacting with the characters. It was a beautifully written story on the Trojan War. Mrs. McLaren is a fantastic writer! In the book, Helen of Sparta is kidnapped at the age of 12, and begins to learn about her "place" in life. She becomes one of the most sought after girls in the world, and finally, Odysseus comes up with a plan to make sure that the "losers" don't rally against the "winner" in the battle over Helen. Thus, the Oath of the Horse is struck, and Helen is given to Menelaus. After several years of living with Menelaus, Helen has a daughter by the name of Hermione. When Hermione is four years old, Paris, a prince of Troy, comes to visit Menelaus. Helen and Paris fall in love with each other and after a few days, Helen leaves with him, on a ship bound for Troy. At this point, the story switches narrators, and becomes narrated by Cassandra, King Priam's daughter, who is a prophetess. Cassandra takes us through the rest of the book, and through the Trojan War. Although the book ends when the Cassandra, Polyxena, Laodice, Andromache and Astyanax are waiting in the temple of Athene, I feel like I have lived with these people all my life, and they are my best friends. Thank you Mrs. McLaren for writing this great and inspirational book!

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Summary: Classical and Sensational Renditoon of the Trojan War
Review: Inside the Walls of Troy is the story of the Trojan War told through the perspectives of two females. It starts off with the beautiful and famous Helen, to which was basis of all this war. From her early childhood to her marriage to Menelaus and finally, her meeting with Paris. The second and for the most part of the story is told through the eyes of Cassandra, Paris' sister and a Trojan Princess who has the Sight. She knows of the coming war and of Helen. However, no one believes her and though at the beginning, she does not want to befriend Helen who has started all the trouble, she does. The two women go through one of the greatest wars in history.

Books narrated by another figure in Historical Fiction are sometimes sidetracked and lack what should be there. This book is an exception. I am dearly in love with the character developpment of Cassandra. I admire her passion and bravery through it all. She has one of the best character developpements I have read. Cassandra's perception is more realistic then Helen's was. McLaren created wonderful characters with depth. Twisting what you would find in the Illiad, this is a very good alternate version of the Trojan War for all ages. If you liked or dislike the Illiad, then you must read this still. If the story does not appeal to you, the style of the writing will.

I cannont stretch how wonderfully told and depicted this book is. It's good for any ages with interest in this classical story.

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Summary: Inside the Walls of Troy Review
Review: My sixth grade class at Laurel School read Inside the Walls of Troy. Before that, we had just finished reading a book about Troy and the Trojan War. Our class did have an idea of who the characters where, but we didn't know too much about the women. Inside the Walls of Troy gave us a great picture of how the women lived and felt during this awful war. There was Cassandra, a seer, who was supposedly given the gift of "sight" by the god of music, Apollo. There was also Helen, the most beautiful women in the world who was married off to Menelaus, an ugly, hairy armed, loving man. These are the two main women in this book and there are actually two parts about them. You start off with Helen being the main character. In this part, you start off with Helen living in Sparta with her sister Penelope and her maid Hessia. Theseus comes and kidnaps Helen and tries to show her how to be a proper lady. Helen is thirteen at the time and her brothers come and save her. When she goes home, suitors await her all wanting her hand in marriage. Everyone is in awe over Helen's beauty and have to make the vow of the horse not to hurt or kill her husband or any of his family. Helen marries Menelaus and they become rulers of Sparta. After a while, they have their first child, Hermione who Menelaus adores. Menelaus invites a Trojan to maybe make a truce over brewing trade problems. Paris came and ends up running away with Helen. They flee to Troy where they plan to live happily ever after. In the second part, which is more about Cassandra, Cassandra is having one of her daily visions and sees Paris returning with Helen. She sees disaster ahead for Troy. She goes to tell her brother, Helenus, who also has the gift of sight. When Helen does come, Cassandra is afraid, but as the story goes on, it tells about their friendship and troubles. Inside the Walls of Troy now is one of my favorite books to read and I strongly encourage other people to read it. I'm sure you too will love this wonderful book with great vocabulary and will want other people to read it. Clemence McLaren has done a great job of writing Inside the Walls of Troy with facts and a twist of some things she made up. You'll find yourself feeling like you too are part of the book and experiencing the Trojan War.

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Summary: Easy to fall in love with
Review: This book was a spectacular adventure for me. It was very moving and I fell in love with many of the characters. I have read this book way to many times to count and yet I still cry when Hector cries. I love this particular take on the Trojan war and because of this book I have read many other takes and views on the Trojan war yet I still find this one to be the best. Troy comes out in May and even though Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom is in this movie, I think I will be immensely disappointed because it is not focused on Helen or Cassandra.

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Summary: The Trojan War
Review: This fantastic novel, "Inside The Walls of Troy," is a great example of author Clemence McLaren's unique talent with words. In vivid detail, Helen's thoughts and emotions are described. Then Cassandra, Paris' sister, is set describing HER comments and feelings. All the while, the reader is so wrapped up in the novel that it is nearly impossible to set down. I was especially drawn to Helen, because she experienced so much, and had the weirdest reactions. At one point in the story, she was meeting the suitors that were lined up to marry her. It was interesting to read about how she felt about everyone, and I liked how Clemence McLaren described her as a rather proud, spunky yet thoughtful young-adult. As a class, my peers and I met Mrs. McLaren in person, and talked to her about her novels-especially this one. She was open, friendly, and creative. After meeting her, I realized that her personality really reflected upon her gift of writing, and that is why all her books are spectacular. If you are someone out there that loves Greek Mythology and a breath-taking novel, this is for you!

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Summary: Inside the Walls of Troy
Review: We've heard the male version of the Trojan War for centuries. What about the women involved? How did Helen feel? What would it have been like to be Cassandra and have to watch your brothers head off into battle? The author takes you there. While personally I believe she could have included even more viewpoints of other women, and switched back and forth between Helen and Cassandra, the author opted to start with Helen's life as a child and switch to Cassandra's viewpoint after Helen arrives in Troy. While many would think this would make the book a bit unbalanced, it actually works quite well, as we see Cassandra's feelings towards Helen greatly change over the many years Troy is under siege. Overall, a pretty enjoyable read.