From the multi-award-winning author Claire North comes a daring reimagining that breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. Like The Penelopiad (which I haven't read yet, but will be reading soon for one of my IRL book clubs), Ithaca tells the story of Penelope left behind by Odysseus in the twenty years he is gone, first fighting at Troy, and then making his way home. 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. Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca.

In Ithaca, her story comes to life, and we see the brutality, heartache, determination, and strength of a Queen. The plot was fascinating and I really appreciated the insight into what it means to be powerful as a woman - which in ancient Greece meant to be powerful in secret.

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 e Hera herself choses to back Clytemnestra, Penelope’s cousin, who has just murdered her husband, Agamemnon, and fled to Ithaca for sanctuary. Putting Hera in the narrator's seat, means that the gods and goddesses also linger at the edges of the pages of Ithaca, which is very exciting and leaves this reimagined world wide open for potential further explorations of Olympus.

There were some very emotional moments when really hard topics were conveyed beautifully, but there were also moments that made me laugh out loud. It's not the first time I've come across this kind of reading of Penelope; that honor belongs to my first and only classics course, provocatively titled, "Monsters, Barbarians, and Women.Hera's peevishness can get a little 'samey' but it's a good way of avoiding the occasional anti-male polemic of some books! On the one hand, I love any chance to revisit these stories I love, especially if told in a way that gives me a new perspective. I sing for no creature’s pleasure but my own, and can attest that what you think you know of the last heroes of Greece, you do not know at all.