The Penelopiad

In Homer's "Odyssey", Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelope manages, in the face of scandalous rumours, to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships, overcoming monsters and sleeping with goddesses, he kills her suitors and - curiously - twelve of her maids. In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: 'What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?' In Atwood's dazzling, playful retelling, the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting, and as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing. With wit and verve, drawing on the storytelling and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned, she gives Penelope new life and reality - and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery.

ISBN 1841957046   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9781841957043 (What's this?)   Pages 224 Publisher Canongate Books Ltd   Published in Edinburgh Imprint Canongate Books Ltd   Height (mm) 198 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 130 Publication date 22 Apr 2006   Academic level General DEWEY 813.54

'Atwood takes Penelope's part with tremendous verve ... she explores the very nature of mythic story-telling.' Mary Beard, Guardian 'In this exquisitely poised book, Atwood blends intimate humour with a finely tempered outrage at the terrible injustice of the maids.' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Sunday Times 'Penelope flies with the help of the sardonic, deadpan voice Atwood lends her, a tone half-Dorothy Parker, half-Desperate Housewives.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent '"Spry" is a word that could almost have been invented to describe Margaret Atwood, who beadily and wittily retells the events surrounding the Odyssey through the voice of Penelope. Pragmatic, clever, domestic, mournful, Penelope is a perfect Atwood heroine.' Sam Leith, Spectator 'An enjoyable, intelligent variation on Penelope's story.' Christopher Tayler, Sunday Telegraph 'Margaret Atwood, with characteristic dryness, acuity and wit, takes on The Odyssey in The Penelopiad, which gives us the wife's point of view.' Erica Wagner, The Times

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