Margaret George is an established historical novelist, penning such

successful books as THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII, MARY

QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES, THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA
and MARY, CALLED MAGDALENE. Slightly more than 600 pages, HELEN
OF TROY is a sweeping novel --- a panorama of historical Greece and
Troy with breathtaking scenery.

Helen, daughter of the Grecian King Tyndareus, tells her story in the
first person, which draws the reader deep into her persona from the
beginning. From her early days in the palace at Sparta, Helen is
forbidden to look into a glass or uncover her veiled face in public. Her
beauty is like that of a goddess; she's known to her mother, the
queen, as Cygnet, the little swan. Legend has it that Helen is the love
child of the god Zeus and her mother during a time when the king was
away from home. Helen is believed to be the most beautiful mortal
female on earth.

Her beauty is both a curse and a blessing. She's cursed because of a

prophecy that she will be the cause of a great war that will obliterate a
noble city. When her sister, Clymenestra, becomes of marriageable
age, the king hosts the various suitors who arrive from near and far-
off city-states to vie for her hand. Many eligible men of all ages arrive
in Sparta for the feasts and games necessary in the royal culture.
Agamemnon of Mycenae wins the right to her hand. Helen's childhood
changes when her sister moves away from Sparta; soon, it will be her
turn to be chosen in marriage.

For the first time in her sheltered life, Helen removes the veil and
shows herself to the 40 or more men who come to Sparta with offers
to Tyndareus. She changes the rites and chooses her husband for
herself. Menelaus of Mycenae, brother to Agamemnon, wins her hand.
She discovers early in the marriage that his brother has warlike
tendencies and talks of conquering lands across the waters, a city like
Troy. Soon a mother, Helen settles into a routine of weaving and
caring for her baby daughter, Hermione.

The characters have a close relationship with the gods and goddesses
they worship. Oracles proclaim present and future actions that must
not be taken lightly. There is great belief in visions seen and heard
from the god; if a happening is preordained by a god, there is severe
risk in opposing it. Helen puts her faith in the goddess Aphrodite and
converses with her in visions. She knows it is the purpose of Aphrodite
to unite her with an envoy from Troy who has come as ambassador to
negotiate for the return of a Trojan woman taken captive by the
Greeks. Paris, prince of Troy, is the young man who steals her heart
during their first meeting.

Consequently, Helen forsakes her homeland, Sparta, her family and

countrymen to sail across the waters to the far city of Troy. The story
follows the myth studied in English classes but with artistic license
taken by the author. George weaves a beautiful story filled with the
human emotion that a woman such as Helen may have experienced in
the circumstances of her life. The notoriety that she accepted, and
then rejected, likens her to a modern celebrity who yearns to hide
from faithful followers. Helen took pleasure in the daily living she
attained as a married woman, but she could never escape her destiny.

Landscapes, architectural accomplishments, weapons of war, civilian

livelihood, manners of costume and dress, religious beliefs and
practices, and hierarchies of royalty are written as a panorama of
Greek life. If, indeed, Troy and Sparta did exist as depicted in HELEN
OF TROY, they are civilizations that come to life on the pages herein.
Curiosity automatically follows about this mythical time in history.
Margaret George's novel may be based on fantasy, but it reads like
reality. HELEN OF TROY is the story of a beautiful woman whose
destiny was to be remembered in the entire literary world as the face
that began a great war. Fact or fiction? Decide for yourself.