Ithaca

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But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Updating the second oldest extant work of Western literature, Homer’s Odyssey, seems a daunting task, but the author entertainingly succeeds.

North takes the unusual step of telling the story through the first-person voice of Hera, the queen of the gods. I can’t recommend Ithaca highly enough, especially to those who share my lifelong fascination with Greek myth. Having Hera as our narrator brings in the other God’s and she shows just how fickle and unworthy of worship they truly are.We also see the story though the perspective of Penelope’s son Telemachus, and though several of the suitors. But as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war . Seventeen years ago, king Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca.

Suitors trying to gain her hand and the throne, her land being pressured to take a new King, and all sorts of trickery and manipulation that accompanies these stories and mythologies. As Queen of Ithaca, she might seem like a regal, authoritative figure, but this is ancient Greece, and she wields little power. Penelope is intelligent and skillful in navigating the labyrinth of obstacles and hordes of suitors plaguing her home. I've always enjoyed reading and learning about the classics, and many of the reimaginings that are released these days shine a light on the women that were so often only briefly mentioned in the heroic tales of the Greek men and gods. The writing was overly complicated, and the storyline didn't flow as smoothly as I would have liked.But, this very style of POV has the disadvantage that for its very nature keeps you at arm's length and detached from the characters.

This feminist retelling of this story is told from the perspective of Hera, showcases the talents, flaws, and vibrant personalities of the women in Ithaca. Jason’s jaunts around town are reminiscent of Francie Brady in The Butcher Boy – young bucks who are wonderful mimics of adult mannerisms while simultaneously struggling to understand the intricacies and injustices of the grown-up world . It’s very much along the lines of if Themyscira was a secret society and Hippolyta, Wonder Woman and all the others were hiding their actions from the men. It would then only shift the narrative from the men to the gods, and not to the women that have already been unheard for so long.

We start the story following Penelope’s denial that her husband is dead, something at first we aren’t sure is due to loyalty to him, or a lack of interest in marrying anyone else. this novel doesnt really offer anything new to the story of penelope - its a faithful reiteration of the traditional tale. It goes on for a few pages and it is really cool to see some development of Hera where she is anything other than angry at mortals. Sometimes, I wonder if the author is biased towards Clytemnestra and Helen for subversion of narratives, to go counter to the usual portrayals of these two, than in doing Penelope justice. Hera, as a narrator, does not mince her words –be it on her opinions about her husband’s amorous exploits or her true feeling about her stepchildren, her observations on Penelope’s suitors or her biased opinions of the Grecian queens among whom Clytemnestra is her favorite.

This isn't a bad book, yes hard to read and follow, and yes there are a lot of names and people who seem their existence wasn't necessary, but it is a GOOD story, not perfect, though I like to read the next book. While we learn a lot more about what she does in Odysseus' absence, this storytelling approach does feel somewhat distant. The Oresteia, which covers the lives and deaths of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and their children, Orestes and Elektra, was also an integral part of this story.Et là grâce à la perspective de ce roman je me suis interrogée franchement quelle femme supporterait que son mari la trompe à tour de bras qu’il ait des enfants avec d’autres femmes et au passage Zeus et le consentement c’est un peu un oxymore.