91 Books Like Helen of Sparta

Ever since reading this book, I *can’t* think of the original version of the Iliad without referencing his haunting retelling from Patroclus’ perspective. Miller did such an incredible job putting me in the story and making the characters so real that I actively missed them when I put the book down.

It doesn’t hurt that it has some of the most beautiful poetic language I’ve encountered in story form. Helen is more of a background character playing her classic role, but I was still fascinated because Miller plays on the demigod aspect of both Helen and Achilles in a way that makes them steal any scene they’re in. There’s a quiet power to them that transcends the page.    

Margaret George is a preeminent writer of historical fiction—big, authoritative novels focusing on remarkable, famous people, as her 2006 Helen of Troy demonstrates. She covers Helen’s life from girlhood through the Trojan War and back to Sparta. She builds a full depiction of ancient Greek life, which always makes me happy, but George is most compelling with her characters. George’s interpretations often break with tradition, and that is true for Helen and Paris. Helen disdains her extraordinary beauty and must grow into visionary insights and outsized passions with guidance from the gods. If you want a genuinely heroic Paris (not his usual wimpiness) and a couple who cleave to each other to the end, this is the Helen book for you. George’s skill holds your attention through it all.

If a racially diverse, gender-bending, often raunchy, always nuanced, new take on an old tale sounds like a good read to you, then pick up this “novel-in-parts.” Both the racial and sexual fullness reflect historical reality, although they’ve ordinarily been left out. Retelling the Trojan War from its early causes to its tragic but still hope-infused end, the authors gave this rendition a compelling depth that will make you savor the old tradition with some new spice on your tongue.

I found this vivid retelling of the Trojan War, based on the Iliad and the Odyssey from prominent and less-known women, interspersed with Calliope's commentary, engaging and relatable. Natalie Haynes, the author of other Homer-inspired stories, tells it skillfully and from a feminist POV. I enjoyed reading this well-crafted book elevating the voice of women based on original works that promote male heroes. Wonderful world-building!

Incidentally, the author has an interesting background, a Cambridge education in classics, a career with the BBC and another as a comedian. I also enjoyed interviews, speeches and material related to Haynes (utube) whose writing is fluid and relatable.

Schlitz’s latest historical novel, set in Ancient Greece, is one I read aloud to my own kids, who like many are already well versed in Greek and Roman mythology.

The story of the rebellious daughter of a noble family and an enslaved boy, it’s a haunting and beautifully rendered introduction to classical philosophy and the story of Socrates. Reading this together gave us a chance to discuss the classical world as a real place and its culture and religion in detail and depth.

Schlitz’s books are among the most literary and original out there and this one was written to stay with you for a very long time. 

I can’t write a list of Helen of Troy's many faces without including the most famous source material. Though it’s marketed for children, it’s one of the most faithful and accessible adaptations of the Iliad that I’ve ever read.

I loved the illustrations and how the scenes stayed faithful to those written many centuries ago while still packing an emotional punch to a modern-day reader. The ancient classics that spread orally are all translated retellings, so while there’s definitely value in reading the more academic versions, those aren’t any more or less valid than an accessible text with modern language that pulls you into the story.

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know the ins and outs of the original to better appreciate retellings. 

One of the many things I like about this novel is the way the writing itself mimics the confusion of the protagonist, Jonah—the way Chaon allows us to completely inhabit his mind, down to the most telling details, his doubts, and precise but uncertain perceptions. We too search for the person whom Jonah intuits but doesn’t know, we grasp for the shape whose presence shadows his life. I was dazzled by the patchy way that Chaon builds the narrative, the intriguing overlaps, and surprising connections as he moves between past and present, allowing the secret at the heart of the story to float closer to the surface. I felt deep compassion for the pain and bewilderment of the characters, for the way they struggled forward, for the complexity of their feelings for each other. 

During the sixties, Atiya collected life stories of five Egyptian women from the lower and middle classes, ranging in age from twenty to mid-sixty. The stories show how to them, life starts with marriage. If they mention their childhoods, it is as preparation for marriage. Parents invariably arranged the women’s marriages or gave permission to potential husbands attracted to their daughters from a distance. Once the excitement of their weddings is over, however, most face an endless stream of difficulties. They recount experiences as co-wives, being forced into acrimonious divorces, family conflicts, and problems with children. They discuss witchcraft, female circumcision, poverty, and health issues. The book is unusual in that it conveys in their own words, the thinking of people not usually heard from in Middle Eastern writing.

As with all the books I have chosen, the River Thames is a central part of this story.

From the affluence of Chelsea, it moves through the varied moods of the river, from crime in Rotherhithe through the Thames Barrier Park (one of my favourite London parks) to the point where it becomes the North Sea. At each twist and turn in the tale, the river matches the events perfectly.

The story is centred round a crime, but what I found fascinating was how a single error of judgement on the part of an innocent academic leaves him homeless, jobless, and in danger, with nowhere to run but a tiny patch of grass by the river. 

As a speculative fiction fan, I love to read horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and Spaceling is one of my favorite science fiction escapes. I first read it as a teenager and immediately connected with the idea of having a power that could literally transport me to another world. I was already a bit of an outsider, but I wanted to be an outsider like Daryl—wisecracking, resourceful, and fearless when it came to taking the leap and letting Fate’s cards fall where they may. This book is sometimes labeled YA fiction, but Doris Piserchia once said she wrote what she liked and had no specific aged audience in mind. I re-read it whenever I want to feel that rush of endless possibilities.