Ithaca

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The gods are foolish and blind – they think the greatest poems are the ones of death in battle and the ravishing of queens.

Despite being Penelope’s story, the novel itself is narrated by Hera, who is, according to ancient Greek religion, the Goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. This would be a great read for anyone who loves mythology and wants to delve deeper into the world of The Odyssey. The POV used throughout the book alternates between third person omniscient, third person limited, second person, first person, then also shifts between present tense and sometimes using past tense.She also holds nothing back while voicing her own brutally honest opinions about some of the "heroes" and how poets and bards wax eloquent while singing praises of their exploits, often neglecting to mention the contributions of their female counterparts or the lesser known mortals who have played an important role in their success. Like Penelope at her loom North both weaves and unweaves, teasing out the threads of Homeric myth to recombine them into something unique, wonderful and urgently contemporary - M. When the others are dead and gone, when Clytemnestra’s body is burnt and Penelope has breathed her last, only Elektra will remain, the last woman to carry my fire.

She steers events unobtrusively, ridicules men, critiques male heroes and the poets who honor their exploits while completely overlooking the role of women in their successes, bemoans her position as a sister/wife of convenience to the king of the gods, and reserves her most scathing commentary for her relatives in the Greek pantheon. Hera, is prone to rambling a bit it seems, and though I enjoyed her voice more than not, I do think it could have been trimmed in places. I don't know how much of this was already mentioned briefly in the tales of old, and how much is from Claire North's imagination, but it feels completely seamless – as if this is how the story was meant to be told all along. 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.The story follows Penelope, Hera, Clytemnestra, and so many more women who are often glossed over in stories like The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Odyssey has always been one of my favourite Greek poems as I love tales of adventures, and Odysseus and his crew experience so much on their journey. We know the story of the suitors and how Odysseus tricked and defeated them, but Penelope’s entire experience is often glazed over. She observes the action from the vantage point of a goddess with a bird’s-eye view of Ithaca, zooms in to its more intimate spaces, and gives access to men only conversations and gatherings denied to women. There was no real depth or development to them, and they felt like cardboard cutouts rather than real people.

North also expressed how the poets of Greece were men, who only immortalized manly things and, when forced to record a story where a woman was at the fore, would find ways to twist it and make her less so that men felt like more. I'd like to continue seeing more of the gods and goddesses that watch down on the mortals of the story – and sometimes intervene – but not at the expense of connecting with the main characters. I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Redhook via Orbit Books, in exchange for an honest review.We also see the story though the perspective of Penelope’s son Telemachus, and though several of the suitors.