Odysseus left Ithaca 8 years ago to assist in returning Helen from Troy leaving Penelope to rule and protect Ithaca. This is getting harder as suitors demand she remarry and accept a new king.

Great read for the myths of heroes and gods. Read and enjoy as we follow Penelope and her people.

I love the fact Claire North doesn’t stray far from the version of these myths , more that she just shows us the side of women of Ithaca once the Trojan wars are over and Odysseus is on his voyages ‘home’ It shows how when men are at war, women get left to run everything as usual, but, but highlights the fact they’re left with no money, no men of working age. I love the fact it’s Hera narrating se we get the point of view of the women who are left behind..
Fantastic book

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This was a bit of a slow read for me, but also a really good one...

Ithaca discusses what happens in Odysseus's home just after the Trojan War, as the events of the Odyssey are transpiring. While Athena protects Odysseus and Telemachus, Hera, queen of the gods and wife to Zeus, looks after Penelope as she tries to rule Ithaca, while at the same time managing the political implications of having a territory without a king. Because of the Trojan War, Ithaca was left only with the women, the very young and very old men, which makes it complicated to protect the island.

Ithaca was so good at presenting these women who were left behind in Ithaca during the Trojan War, especially Penelope, who is so often disregarded, but finally gets to be the lead in this story. Hera has a special affection for the Greek queens - Penelope, Helen and, especially, Clytemnestra - and with the goddess at the helm in this book, we get to see more of Ithaca's women.

The narrator for Ithaca's audiobook was excellent and managed to elevate the novel.

4 Stars

Synopsis: Odysseus has not returned home and Penelope must must maintain a fragile balance in his absence. But with suitors vying for the throne, pirates attacking her Kingdom, and threats looming all around her, she must use her wit to keep Ithaca intact.

CW/TW: Sexism/Misogyny/Rape/Death/Murder/Sacrifice/Death of a child/Slavery/others may be present.

Ithaca by Claire North is a beautiful retelling of Odysseus with it’s lens fixed on Penelope. It tells the story of Penelope in Odysseus’ absence and sticks close to Odysseus’ original tale.

Claire North’s prose is gorgeous and lyrical. Despite Penelope being the eponymous character, the book is told from the perspective of the Goddess Hera. This was an interesting choice that lent a blunt and cynical humour to the book, while also not shying away from her own brutal view of some of the men, and the Gods. It was a nice choice that helped maintain some pace in this book – which is otherwise rather slow paced. While I enjoyed Hera’s perspective and narration, at times it felt a little repetitive.

The plot is as expected, Penelope’s experience of Odysseus’ absence. 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. The book was interesting, I enjoyed Hera’s perspective of Penelope and her clever ways. Similarly, I enjoyed the little glimpses we get of other Goddesses or looks into what they are up to. The best part of the story was Penelope’s careful weaving of plots and plans meant to keep Ithaca stable, while maintaining the image of the demure and grieving woman and wife. Overall, the story was enjoyable with hints of humour, wit and sarcasm.

The characters were interesting. Hera was interesting as a Narrator, her role as a Goddess, her view of Women and of mothers was interesting and aligned well with her view of the Gods and Men who think they can take what they want, when they want. I also enjoyed the parts of Artemis and Athena that we got to see – though this was not too much of the book. Finally I liked Penelope’s character and appreciated her mind. However, I did not like Telemachus or most of the suitors who are guests on Ithaca. Moreover, some of the characters felt a little flat to me. But I did enjoy the addition of Penelope’s maids, Clytemnestra, and more – it added more depth to the characters and shone light on the women in the story.

Overall, Ithaca was an enjoyable read with a unique light on Penelope’s story.

*I received an eARC via Netgalley from Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review -Thank you!*

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to resist a feminist retelling - and Ithaca is no exception.

Through the eyes of the Goddess Hera we follow Penelope, Queen of Ithaca as she navigates the years in which her husband Odysseus is away. I loved Hera as a narrator, it was a fresh and engaging way to tell the story and gave the book an extra dose of mythology.

It did however take me until about a third of the way into the book to really get into the plot - we are introduced to far too many characters too early on, some of whom are really not that relevant. This made it difficult to connect with the key players in the early stages of the book. However once the plot progressed I found myself not wanting to put this down, absolutely engrossed in the clever ways Penelope was able to rule (without the men realising).

If you enjoy Greek retellings then this is definitely worth a read (I’m off to go remind myself of some more Greek history!)

Although I like the retelling of Greek mythology I was a little confused by this story. There were attempts to modernise which did not work for me. I was a little confused by the storyteller and found this retelling a little long. Nevertheless, it was interesting.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Claire North/Little, Brown Book Group for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Odysseus sailed to Troy, he took with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. Seventeen years later, none of them have returned and, believing Odysseus to be dead, suitors have been competing to win over his wife, Penelope, in order to become the new king of Ithaca. Penelope has managed to use her cunning to keep them at bay, but the balance of power is on a knife’s edge and the slightest false move could tip the kingdom into disaster.

Ithaca is a retelling of what happened in the kingdom of Ithaca while Odysseus was trapped on Calypso’s island. It doesn’t veer far from the existing stories of Penelope and the suitors, but it does provide a more in-depth look into how she maintained peace on the island, and gives much more significance to the roles of the maids. It sticks to the basic facts of the story and pads it out with detail, politics and personality.

The story is narrated by the goddess Hera whose unique perspective gives the story a more original feel. I really enjoyed Hera’s narrative voice, and appreciated seeing the limited involvement of the goddesses in supporting the women of Ithaca without drawing unwanted attention from the likes of Zeus and Poseidon. It has a very contemporary feel, without modernising the story too far or changing the perceived role of women at that time.

The one negative is that the plot developed quite slowly. I’ve read that this is the first part of what will be a trilogy, and I’m just not sure that the story really needs three whole books to tell it. Especially for anyone already familiar with the Odyssey who is aware of how it ends. I don’t want to get overly attached to characters who are inevitably going to meet a bloody end! I feel that the story could have been compressed slightly, and I can’t even fathom what’s going to happen in the next two books.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy to review of this book. It has such an intriguing prospectus. What was it really like for the women left behind on Ithaca when King Odysseus and the menfolk went to war in Troy? Here we find Penelope, her women associates, the suitors and her sulky son, Telemachus, negotiating a perilous political path in their absence some 17 years later. It’s a great concept, but why is it narrated by Hera? She has no real mythological association with Ithaca. Her sarcastic and sometimes witty disparagement works to a point as does the bravely different view of Penelope as a world wearied queen, more or less indifferent now to the endlessly absent Odysseus and more formed by her kinship with Helen and Clytemnestra - quite a trinity of womenfolk! I am greatly in support of new attempts to tell these ancient stories and for that reason alone would urge people to read this book. I have to say, however, that the writing and pace does not really quite cut it for me and I am having trouble finishing it myself.

Headlines:
Interesting POV and prose
Felt a little long and slow

Ithaca started with an interesting bang and zoning in on normal people but it quickly zoomed out to encompass a huge viewpoint thanks to the narration of Hera. On the one hand, Hera provided a sometimes sarcastic wit and clever take on events. However, it provided an artistic license for anything goes in terms of events that took place and in particular her view of Penelope.

I did find this story to feel long in parts and slow to develop. There were themes you might expect like relationships and pettiness, politics and strategy and of course the influence of the gods. I quite liked the political elements but felt forever frustrated with some of the women in this story. The men...well they are mostly a waste of word space but I guess they have to be there!

I do think that to fully appreciate this tale, you need a previous understanding of the history and events of these myths. Without that, you might be lost as there is minimal guidance for the reader on past events prior to where this tale picks up. Overall, not my favourite retelling and I'm not sure I'll continue.

Wow! What a glorious retelling. In vivid technicolour North brings the story of Penelope and the island of Ithaca to life rich in detail, deep in emotion and raw in honesty about womanhood.

I loved the unromanticised voice of our narrator, Hera standing out in contrast from the original poetic tales. Who could fail to love all of the female protagonists, each uniquely fiercely strong in a world dominated by the power of men.

This book had me on the edge of my seat because of the exciting, compelling plot, the beautiful characterisation and the exquisitely written prose. A fantastic read!

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

When King Odysseus left Ithaca to join the war with Troy, all men of the fighting age sailed with him. For seventeen years, the men do not return, and the island is run by old men and the queen, who dare not take the rule into her hands. At least not officially. Behind the scenes, Penelope consults with a group of women. When the suitors, ready to replace Odysseus, grow impatient, the raiders appear at Ithaca’s coast, she has to maintain the fragile peace and power balance.

Ithaca is one of the stories that give voice to women from Ancient Greek mythology. This time, we explore Ithaca, where the men are either too young or old but still pretend to rule over women. Claire North writes a daring myth retelling, where the narrative voice is given to Penelope and Hera, the goddess of women, marriage and family, who watch over Ithaca from Olympus. Both women struggle to retain their influence and shards of power in a world ruled by men. I loved how North wrote in Hera’s voice— angry and cynical, but always supporting the women, especially against the injustice of men.

What I am still not sure about is the disenchantment of Penelope’s story. She was often used as an example of a ‘good wife’, faithful and loving. As a young girl, I was fascinated with her story. I never thought of her as weak or subjugated but as someone madly in love. In Ithaca, she is indifferent to her husband and uses his absence to build her independence. This adjustment changes the narrative from a sentimental love story to a piece about female strength and solidarity. I admire Claire North’s brave decision to challenge the way Penelope was perceived throughout the ages. Her attempt to introduce formidable women to a male-dominated Ancient Greece was a fascinating read.

I've loved Claire North previous science-fiction books, and I was a bit worried about her attempt at a new genre: greek mythology retelling. But I didn't need to worry at all, because I loved Ithaca more then I thought I would.
I've found the book to be beautifully written, with her typical elegant prose and the point of view of goddess Hera strong and powerful.
It has a slow pace and a lot of characters, but it sucks you into the story with its intimate and emotional style.
Beautiful!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Take it from a queen – the greatest power we women can own is that we take in secret.”

This is the story of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and the women of Ithaca who are often forgotten when stories of heroes are told.
This story is narrated by Hera who sees everything happening in Ithaca and so we get a bigger view of what is happening. It was interesting to read the story with Hera as the narrator and her sharing her view on the world and the gods of Olympus. How she is forgotten in favour of the other others and yet she still has power.

This is a theme that runs throughout the story. How Penelope despite being queen has to pretend to be meek and quiet in front of the men who act like they know what they are doing but actually just sit and drink and eat every evening. How the women are actually keeping the place running and yet they are seen as nothing in the eyes of men. The poets do not speak of them as heroes. It was so interesting to see how Penelope keeps everything running on her own for 17 years and yet the poets only sing the praises of Odysseus. She is smart and cunning and wise and knows how to handle these men and their egos.

Though I do wish we had seen a little more of Penelope’s point of view and gotten in her head and what she thought as it made it difficult to really connect with her.
There are also a lot of characters so it did get confusing at times as to who was who but overall I did enjoy seeing so many different women who had their own strengths and weaknesses and worked together to keep their home safe.

If you enjoy greek mythology retellings then you will enjoy this story.

Seventeen years after King Odysseus went off to war with Troy he still has not returned. He left behind his young wife Penelope who now has to protect Ithaca from the growing number of suitors who want to claim Odysseus’ throne.

Many of us will be familiar with the Odyssey and the trials and tribulations of the King of Ithaca, but the story of Penelope, the wife he left behind is rarely spoken of. In this book Claire North gives voice not only to Penelope but the women who surround her.

Hera, Queen of the Gods is our narrator and she looks down upon Ithaca, watching every move the inhabitants make. This Hera is snarky and dripping in disdain for the men attempting to gain the throne. She doesn’t hold back with her opinions and constantly comments upon the poets and bards inability to mention any women in their laments of heroes. I enjoyed her commentary but at times it felt like it was trying too hard to make a point although all her points were in fact, valid. The presence of an omniscient narrator also meant that there was a certain disconnection between the reader and the characters. I felt we never really got to know Penelope as well as we could have, I would have liked to know what was going through her head as she plotted and schemed.

I loved the writing style of North and thought it flowed beautifully. When the narration jumped from person to person I never felt like it was abrupt, it always felt effortless and light. The story itself is told well and I loved the interactions between Hera and the other Goddesses.

This is a well written feminist retelling and while I enjoyed it, it never reached the heights that I hoped it would.

It’s difficult being a woman (or a goddess) in Ancient Greece, because the men (or gods) all have such fragile masculinity and you have to tiptoe around their feelings. If you kill the husband who’s murdered two of your children, then your other two children are morally obliged to kill you.

Anyway, this story is set on the scrubby, poor, goat infested island of Ithaca, where Queen Penelope is waiting for her annoying husband to return from the war which ended years ago and is doing her best to negotiate the politics of a large number of suitors who have turned up wanting to be fed and get her husband’s crown on their head. Her teenage son is being reckless but doesn’t think he needs her any more and her murderous cousin Clytemnestra has chosen Ithaca to be her hideout. Penelope will have to be clever to avoid disaster.

A lot of the story is narrated by the grumpy Queen Goddess Hera as she and her fellow gods do some meddling in the lives of mankind.

A well written tale and I’m looking forward to book 2 when hopefully Odysseus will finally show up.

What is a tragedy? The Classical world defined it as a tale ending in death or fall of the hero. But who is the hero? The ancient bards assigned it to men who were brave and admirable. It is Oedipus, the man who wanted to escape his prophecy and in the process brought his doom closer. It is Achilles, whose wrath ended in the loss of his beloved and then his own life. It is never the women left behind to fend for themselves, or the women who lived even as Troy burned. It is never women, for they do not go to wars and die valiant deaths; they only live on, no matter through what.

Then is this book a tragedy, or is it neither tragedy nor comedy? Claire North makes us all rethink the definitions we’ve been taught, the stories we have been told, the gods we have been taught to admire. Most important, she questions, what is an end? The story certainly doesn’t end, even when the bards stop narrating. Someone else picks up the last thread and weaves again, then someone else, again and again.

Ithaca is a book that makes you think, forget the conventions, face the harshest side of history and myth. I takes us beyond the bards’ songs. And doing it through the eyes of the goddess who has always been relegated to the background and the protector of mothers gives it a touch of uniqueness. Amidst so many retellings with feminine leads, how many times does Hera appear as an important character, playing a pivotal role? Yet she lives through the wives and mothers who have only held knives to skin hens, held no shields but crying children, only walked fields to tend their farms. She lives through the women who cry themselves to sleep after being used for their bodies, the women whose sons have grown to known women have nothing to give beyond progeny. She lived through the women of Ithaca, left for two decades to their device and foreigners plundered the kingdom.

This story is poetic in its language. It delves into the politics of human and divinity. The narration is beautifully constructed. There is no room for complaint, as every aspect of the story is taken care of. Much of the retellings focus on how one woman has been wronged by the men around her. This story is about how women are constantly fighting the wrongs by men. It shatters the image that noble and brave men possess no fault, and also the image of gods being faultless. Each character is blinded by something, carrying the baggage of their past, fending off the present, bitter in how life has treated them. And the limelight never shifts from the women.

This book gives the reader a new insight into the works of Classical Antiquity. Reading any other original work after this book would take a new meaning. The well-constructed and well-researched narrative makes one feel this is a work of history, and not fiction.

Can’t fault this one. The storytelling is clear (sometimes many of the Greek names blurred together in my mind, but this isn’t a fault of the book at all) and the characterisation is perfect at every moment. This is the story of Penelope, but narrated from the perspective of Hera, Queen of the Olympians. I absolutely loved Hera and thought she was the perfect choice for this – just omniscient enough for the 3rd POV whilst still being personal enough to get an emotional connection to the other characters. Her offhanded comments throughout the book give great humour (hoot bloody hoot), but she’s also capable of seeing the darkness inside each woman (death to all Greeks). I also love how this book doesn’t gloss over the more ‘uncomfortable’ parts of Greek mythology too – Zeus is both brother and husband, and the gods are childish and selfish, indifferent to the suffering of most mortals. I’m so glad this is part of a series, and excited to see who appears in the next instalment.

Ithaca tells the story of Odysseus‘s wife Penelope - or rather that of the whole island - from Hera‘s point of view, which is a very unique choice of an unreliable narrator that surprised me initially but proved to be quite interesting. I do respect that choice as it enabled the author to have a comparably omniscient narrator, but would have preferred had the story been told from the points of view of Penelope herself and maybe some of the other major female characters.

Although I did read large parts of both the Iliad and the Odyssey in Latin class in school, and had some insight into Penelope‘s life from reading A Thousand Ships, I was only familiar with the rough basics of her story and knew almost nothing about the rest of Greek politics at the time, or the way the kingdom was impacted by Odysseus‘s absence. Therefore I found that this book brought the stories together and introduced all of the characters in a way that was very easy to understand and to follow - and here it certainly helped to have Hera as the narrator!

As for the story itself, I found it very interesting that the author chose to end the book at this particular point in the story. That is not to say that I didn’t like it, quite in the contrary actually! It makes perfect sense due to the fact that the book focuses on the women’s stories, despite being an unconventional choice. However, I would of course have liked to hear about Odysseus‘s return from this perspective as well.

Another aspect I found very interesting was the focus on Penelope‘s son. I have practically no background knowledge on his story, so I don’t know how much of this was given and how much was artistic freedom (I would imagine the Odyssey focuses on his more honourable qualities), but I found it to be a very likely depiction of what Telemachus must have felt about living in the shadow of his father‘s memory.

In general, I felt like the plot dragged a bit at points and I was repeatedly fed up by Hera‘s unreliability as a narrator, which was influenced by her own personal stakes in the outcome of the story. I would say that her voice was a lot like what I imagined her to be like, and I appreciate that she wasn’t overlooked for once, but I simply didn’t like her and was often annoyed by her.

Either way, as someone who is continually looking for mythology retellings of any and all parts of the epic poetry of Ancient Greece, I appreciated Ithaca for what it made of Penelope‘s story and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a different, feminist perspective on one of the greatest Greek warriors‘ family history.

3.5/5 stars.

An interesting tale of ancient Greece and the Gods, crammed full of power struggles, politics and strong, clever women. I was drawn into the story of Ithaca and its queen, Penelope - admiring her skills at navigating the trials of ruling the land without seeming to rule it at all. Her intelligence and cunning were evident in her actions, and I enjoyed reading about the different women on the island and their tricks and successes, every effort made to seem as though they were doing nothing when they were, in fact, doing everything. Using Hera’s voice to narrate the goings on in Ithaca and give insight to other characters without including multiple POVs was unique, albeit a little confusing at times to distinguish between her own stories and those of the people of Ithaca. However, the interplay between Hera and her family offered another level to the story, with parallels between the Greek Gods and the Greek people we see in Ithaca. This book fits well amongst the feminist retellings of ancient Greece but it did leave me a little confused at times, jumping between past, present, and future and throwing together a large number of characters that were hard to keep track of.

i received the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i received both the e-arc and the audiobook and i switched reading and listening up a bit. i’ll say the narrator had a good voice for this, but because of the writing, sometimes it seemed a little like a textbook on greek mythology, especially in the beginning.

as for the actual story, i’ll say i think one needs more knowledge of greek mythology than i have. so that was a bit of a bummer, because i sometimes had no clue what was going on, and only started understanding bits of the actual story around 40%, when i switched to reading instead of listening. thankfully i do know the story of elektra and her family, because if i didn’t, i think i would be very confused reading this book.

i liked the writing, even though it was a bit too descriptive at times. i liked the feminist approach the author took and the men-hating lines made my day.

overall, i liked reading it. but i think i should have read it after obtaining more knowledge of greek mythology. not much to do about that now though.