Ithaca: The exquisite, gripping tale that breathes life into ancient myth (The Songs of Penelope)

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There is something fateful about The Songs of Penelope trilogy: that this voice would come to this story, a pairing so perfect it was worth waiting a few thousand years for.

Like The Penelopiad (which I haven't read yet, but will be reading soon for one of my IRL book clubs), Ithaca tells the story of Penelope left behind by Odysseus in the twenty years he is gone, first fighting at Troy, and then making his way home. You hide them in precisely the same way you hide your success as a merchant, your skills with agriculture, your wisdom at politics and your innate cunning wit. If you’re looking for a tale with an array of different representation of strong females, this is the one. As Queen of Ithaca, she might seem like a regal, authoritative figure, but this is ancient Greece, and she wields little power. for those readers who have, you will definitely enjoy heras feminist commentary on the familiar events.

Narrated by Hera, it immerses you in Penelope's story and the wider tales of other women, both goddesses and slaves, as well as Penelope's son and her suitors . And hearing from Hera how much of herself she saw in these queens, how she had experienced the same, really drove home the fact that height of station did nothing to spare these women. I should confess though it is Penelope's retelling, I enjoyed Elektra and Clytemnestra most, Yes we have Agamemnon's wife and daughter here, Athena and Artemis too! Claire North aims to reinvent the Penelopiad, with a feminist slant that captures the quiet, hidden power of Penelope, the maids of Ithaca, and the goddesses of Mount Olympus. this is a ground-up view of Greek myth populated by spying maids, crafty merchants, and conniving queens.

Claire North's words are needles, and each one is directed at some tender part of the patriarchy in this pointedly feminist revision of The Odyssey.She also has a strange fondness for Ithaca which she describes as barren and scraggy, uninteresting enough to her fellow Olympians to allow her to meddle unobserved.

Having read Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad recently and loving it, I had hoped to hear more about Penelope and her maids and the events in Ithaca during Odysseus’s absence from Penelope’s perspective. I’ve always disliked Hera, but in the past year or so I’ve read multiple books that showcased facets of her I had never considered.I really struggled with how to rate this, as the writing sometimes felt very subpar, but I enjoyed the story quite a lot despite it. But when I find a book that not only retells one of these timeless stories, it breathes new life into it, it becomes an instant favorite. It was as if the author had settled in to the vivid world she had created and let the characters speak for themselves. On the one hand, I love any chance to revisit these stories I love, especially if told in a way that gives me a new perspective.

Penelope balances on a razor’s edge, trying to keep the suitors fed and content as she constantly claims to be on the cusp of a decision, knowing full well that she can never choose because all of the spurned suitors will surely declare war on Ithaca. But the storytelling itself - so key in the source material and so well executed by other modern authors - is uneven and distracting and detracting from the overall effort.Hera’s commentary on events and players, on the affairs of gods and mortals, is irreverent, insightful and often darkly funny.