House of Names

My Review (Spoiler Free)

Hoo boy. What to say about House of Names. This book earned a weak 4 stars from me. On its face, it is a retelling of a few Ancient Greek plays and poems, with his own writing sprinkled in to connect the dots between the existing narratives. House of Names follows Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon from The Iliad fame, as she plots her husband's death following the death of their daughter, Iphigenia, at his hands. Clytemnestra plots a full revenge plan against Agamemnon that includes an affair with his most hated prisoner, the pretended kidnapping of her son, Orestes, and ultimately the murder of Agamemnon. Tóibín appears to want to write his narrative in the style of an epic poem, similar to that executed by Madeline Miller in Circe, but falls flat. The story he tells is too fast-paced for an epic-style narration. While overall House of Names is a good and interesting story, it misses some of the points that I wanted and expected it to hit. Though it does not follow much of The Oresteia, its ending, which is vastly different from the source material, is well-written, thought out, and compelling. At times, it felt like Tóibín was attempting to include too much into his story, or that he was not committing enough to the storylines he did include. The ending of the book is what made me give it a 4 star review, but its detractions make it a very low 4. It is worth the read if you are on an Ancient Greek or Mythology retelling kick, but it does not reach the same readability and togetherness as some other retellings.