House of Names

From the award-winning author Colm Tóibín, this novel is a powerful retelling of the classic Greek tragedy of Clytemnestra and her children. The story begins in ancient Mycenae, where King Agamemnon sacrifices his eldest daughter, Iphigeneia, for military victory in the Trojan War. Upon his return after nine years, his wife Clytemnestra, who now rules the city with her new lover Aegisthus, plots and carries out her brutal vengeance, murdering her husband. The novel explores the devastating aftermath, as the entire family is set on a path of intimate violence. It follows Clytemnestra's bloody tale as well as the stories of her remaining children: her son, Orestes, who is captured, escapes, and is sent into exile, and her daughter, Electra, who watches with cold anger until the time is right to enact her own terrible vengeance against her mother and Aegisthus.

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