The following items are available at Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road. For more information on the library’s collection or to reserve a title, visit hcplibrary.org.
Adult Fiction
“The Silence of the Girls,” by Pat Barker
The city of Troy has withstood a decade of siege from the powerful Greek army, who wages bloody war over a stolen woman — Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman watches and waits for the war’s outcome: Briseis. She was queen of a neighboring kingdom until Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior, sacked the city, murdering her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles’ prize of battle and must adjust quickly to survive the life of one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army. When Agamemnon, leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two powerful Greeks. Achilles, in protest, refuses to continue to fight, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Briseis finds herself in a position to observe the two men driving the Greek forces in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate of Briseis’s people and the ancient world at large. Briseis is just one of thousands of women — slaves, prostitutes, nurses, women who lay out the dead — living behind the scenes of war and all erased by history.
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Adult Nonfiction
“Path of the Puma: The Remarkable Resilience of the Mountain Lion,” by Jim Williams
During a time when most wild animals are experiencing decline in the face of development and climate change, the intrepid mountain lion — also known as a puma, a cougar, and by many other names — has experienced reinvigoration as well as expansion of territory. What makes this cat, the fourth carnivore in the food chain — just ahead of humans — so resilient and resourceful? And what can conservationists and wildlife managers learn from them about the web of biodiversity in desperate need of protection? Their story is fascinating for the lessons it can afford the protection of all species in times of dire challenge and decline.
