Goddess of Yesterday: A Tale of Troy

By Caroline B. Cooney

Anaxandra is taken from her birth island at age 6 by King Nicander to be a companion to his crippled daughter, Princess Callisto. Six years later, her new island is sacked by pirates and she is the sole survivor. Alone with only her Medusa figurine, she reinvents herself as Princess Callisto when Menelaus, great king of Sparta, lands with his men. He takes her back to Sparta with him where Helen, his beautiful wife, does not believe that the red-headed child is Princess Callisto. Although fearful of the half-mortal, half-goddess Helen, Anaxandra is able to stay out of harm’s way—until the Trojan princes Paris and Aeneas arrive. Paris and Helen’s fascination with each other soon turns to passion and plunges Sparta and Troy into war. Can Anaxandra find the courage to reinvent herself once again, appease the gods, and save herself?

In Caroline B. Cooney’s epic tale of one girl’s courage and will to survive, Anaxandra learns that home is where you make it and identity goes deeper than just your name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 21, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307485496

Caroline B. Cooney

Caroline B. Cooney was born in New York, grew up in Connecticut, and now lives in South Carolina. Caroline is the author of about 80 books in many genres, and her books have sold over fifteen million copies. I’m Going to Give You a Bear Hug was her first picture book, based on a verse she wrote for her own children, Louisa, Sayre, and Harold, who are now grown. I’m Going to Give You a Polar Bear Hug is the sequel! Visit her at carolinebcooneybooks.com or Caroline B. Cooney’s author page on Facebook.

Reviews for Goddess of Yesterday

[mutantpudding · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read this as a kid and it's one of my favorite historical fiction books and probably a catalyst for my lifelong interest in Greek mythology and history.

Content warning for mentions of rape and some gnarly deaths...which now makes me question why this book is in the juvenile fiction section of the library...but I guess I read it as a preteen and I'm mostly fine so

[bonreads-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting take on the beginnings of the Trojan war. Loved the story.

[butterflybaby_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I tried listening to this book, I found the character flat and the story uninteresting. I really wanted to like this book. It sounded better than it was. Maybe I'll revisit this book and read it in a couple of months.

[selkie_girl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Anaxandra, a girl taken from her home island, finds herself involved in the Trojan war, hated by Helen and Paris, and loved as a daughter by Helen's former husband. I wanted to like this book, really I did. It had such potiental to be really good. But Cooney's writing was choppy and she would start and end scenes abruptly without any thought to the reader. The story also ends rather suddenly without any good closure. Don't waste your time with this one.