As despised as she was desired, Helen of Troy is one of history's most notorious women. In this groundbreaking and richly dramatic novel, the familiar story of passion and violence is told from a new perspective: that of Helen herself.
Born of god and king and hidden as a girl until Odysseus discovers him, Achilles becomes the Greeks' greatest warrior at Troy. Into his story comes a cast of fascinating characters—among them Hector, Helen, Penthiselaia the Amazon Queen, and the centaur Chiron; and finally John Keats, whose writings form the basis of a meditation on the nature of identity and shared experience. Achilles is an affirmation of the story's enduring power to reach across centuries and cultures to the core of our imagination.
