The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

  If you have read any of my prior blog posts, you already know that I am a fan of Margaret Atwood.   Her revolutionary The Handmaid's Tale opened my eyes to so much that is currently going on and alerting me to what could be going on.

I had to read a book based on myth for my challenge.  Greek mythology and the Odyssey, in particular, have long been a favorite. This tells the familiar story but from Penelope's point of view.   We see the cunning Odysseus from Penelope's eyes and we also witness the events leading up to the Trojan war.   Penelope rightly tries to dissuade Odysseus from going off to war, but he refuses to listen and the result is quite tragic for Penelope. 

I'm sure, if you are reading this, you are familiar with the story so I won't bore you with my humble attempt at a summary here.   I will say that I found the treatment of Penelope's handmaidens to be the most interesting part of the story both in this life and then, their judgement of Penelope in the afterlife.

I gave it three stars.  Not because it isn't well written but because I was hoping for a more than rehashing of an already familiar story.