Nobody's Princess

Helen of Troy, The Early Years

Her face launched a thousand ships and instigated a horrific, ten year war between the Greeks and Trojans. In legend, Helen of Troy is no more than a pawn, used and/or abused by men. Men fell at her feet seeking her hand in marriage or kidnapping her in order to own her famous beauty. But somewhere within this story lies a woman who lived these events and found the courage to rebel against Menelaus and flee with Paris to Troy

Where did that rebel come from?

That's the question Esther Friesner explores in her YA novel, Nobody's Princess. In Friesner's account, we meet Helen as a small child, excited and enamored of the goddess Aphrodite. She wanders through childhood aware of her beauty. How can she avoid it? Everyone comments on it. When she escapes deserved punishment and her sister Clytemnestra suffers for it, Helen begins to understand the power wielded by her beauty.

Read the rest of this post on my blog at:

http://aneclecticmuse.blogspot.com/2013/01/helen-of-troy-early-years.html