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

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Set while Penelope is entertaining suitors and weaving (and unweaving) her father-in-law's funeral shroud, it explores what it means to rule as a woman who must be seen not to rule at all. 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.

Each has very different interests and views, but each embodies a different aspect of power – including power which is threatened or changing by the world around them. Claire North allows us to envisage the devastation to Odysseus' property inflicted by the suitors competing for his wife's hand, the plots which they hatch between them, the danger faced by his son Telemachus as he reaches manhood and thies for the first time poses a threat to Penelope's suitors.It also puts into stark relief the oppressive chauvinism of Ancient Greece and its Lost Generation, those men who came of age during and following the Trojan War, too young to fight and die as heroes on foreign shores and without leaders, kings, fathers to guide them, or surviving a long and seemingly pointless war to be confronted with the limited fruits of victory. As well, Penelope is a character I’ve read twice by two other authors, Margaret Atwood and Madelline Miller.

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. As she sits and weaves a funeral shroud, Penelope is inundated with suitors looking to marry her and take Odysseus’ place on the throne of Ithaca.How could she protect her island and her people when not only did she have no army, but the idea of women being in charge was seen as ridiculous?

It's Hera, who looks down on Penelope, encouraging her along and rooting for her in times of difficulty. Ithaca is the story of, well, Ithaca, as Odysseus has been gone for 17 years and his queen, Penelope, strives to hold the kingdom together. Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca.The women in Claire North’s Ithaca - Penelope, her loyal maids and advisors, and the warriors who take it upon themselves to defend their island from threats are brave and intelligent and empower one another when faced with adversity. Ithaca by Claire North is the first book in a trilogy about Penelope’s Ithaca as she struggles to hold the kingdom together during Odysseus’ absence.

And one of my first books I posted on the latter was my thoughts on The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. But that, and politely tolerating the hundred suitors vying for her hand (because surely Odysseus is dead?

You don't connect with the characters, there are too many of them that have their time in the sun for one second, some appearing just in a line, a couple of dialogue exchanges, a fleeting run by the place. In addition to tactfully handling the volatile situation with her suitors, she is also troubled by the presence of a queen being hunted by her vengeful children for murdering their father. She’s proud, snarky, and often laugh out loud funny as she handles her stepdaughters, Artemis and Aphrodite, who have chosen sides in this conflict, and voices her opinions on her husband, Zeus’s love affairs and his tendency to disguise himself as swans and other creatures. This immediately changes how you send messages and record events – the significance of a poet’s song becomes huge – and consequently also changes how trust, time and storytelling works. It also shows how many women fought against their oppressors, some in stealthy and secretive ways and others in demonstrative and explosive ways.