I love the ways that North explores Greek myths. Her choice of Aphrodite for the narrator was surprising in a novel about Penelope on Ithaca but her portrayal of Aphrodite ended up being one of my favourite aspects of the novel. North’s Aphrodite is as tender as she is impassioned, and as driven by love between sisters and friends, as she is by romantic lovers.

North’s Penelope is a continuation of the Penelope she introduces in the first novel in this series. Clever, cunning and crafty, she plays the grieving wife and worried mother in front of her councillors and suitors (all of whom are laughably incompetent), but is ruling from the shadows when they are not looking, having assembled a small army of women to assist her.

The depictions of Helen, Menelaus and Elektra were exciting to read, and the various plot lines interesting to unwind. To take three separate stories – Penelope waiting for Odysseus on Ithaca, Orestes and Elektra recovering from Clytemnestra’s murder, and Menelaus and Helen’s life after Troy – and thread them together created one epic narrative that was so much fun to read. I can’t wait for the next instalment.

House of Odysseus is a continuation of the feminist retelling of ‘Penelope’s song’ and is continuing the story on from ‘Ithaca’ by the same author that came out earlier in the year. I am happy to say that I felt House of Odysseus was actually the stronger book of the two.

It uses a similar framing device in that it is narrated by an onlooking Greek god, but this time it is Aphrodite rather than Hera and the narrator didn’t feel as obstructive to the story. I found myself really enjoying her little anecdotes and I just felt the story was a bit tighter and a bit more polished, the story was well paced. Reading it made me wonder whether this had originally all been one book because it didn’t read like a sequel, it had no new arc, it was just a continuation of a story that was finished halfway through in the last book.

The story follows Penelope, continuing to rule Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence. Elektra arrives on the island, attempting to hide her brother Orestes because he has gone mad since he was forced to kill their mother and their subjects cannot see, lest it bring his rule into question. But unfortunately the king of Sparta and his wife Helen have also landed on the island looking for Orestes and attempting a soft invasion of Ithaca. Can Penelope and her group of women find a way to outsmart him and regain control?

I really enjoyed this. 4 stars

OMG, this book is seriously amazing! Like, way better than a lot of those Greek retellings out there.I'm totally stoked. Totally worth a read, no doubt. And I can't stop wondering about the sequel... like, gimme! 🙌 Huge shoutout to NetGalley for hooking me up with the ARC! You rock! 🙌

House of Odysseus (Songs of Penelope #2)
Claire North
Ebook
Pub date 24th August
Review: Four stars

I borrowed Ithaca from a friend of mine earlier this year and really enjoyed it so when I saw this book as being available to request through NetGalley I jumped!

Narrated by the Goddess Aphrodite the book picks up with Penelope still trying to ward off the multitude of suitors that have plagued her since her husband Odysseus has been absent from the end of the War of Troy and continues onto the arrival of Elektra and her brother Orestes who is sick seemingly as a result of what happened at the end of the first book and pursued by Menelaus who senses an opportunity to seize power. There’s also a little murder mystery involved as well.

I thought the book was well written and the flow of the story was great although some of Aphrodite’s more salacious comments could have been edited out and I wouldn't miss them. Despite this, I really liked how Aphrodite discussed the different types of love that exist. I enjoyed the portrayal of Helen and the point that women use others' perceptions of them as a shield and as a way to continue on their own path when living in a society where being a woman is next to being a piece of property.

I enjoyed the continuation of Penelope’s character in this book from using all the resources she has available to maneuver herself politically, to protect her maids and in turn Elektra and Orestes to using all of her wits to outbattle Menelaus when the unfortunate complication of a little murder throws a spanner in the works. If you are looking for a strong female MC look no further.

It is my hope that the third installment in this series is narrated by the Goddess Athena and covers Odysseus's return to Ithaca as I think it would be interesting to see that from her perspective.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown Publishing, and Orbit Books for my e-arc of this read!

I've never really been much of a fan of Greek mythology, the Viking Sagas are more my thing, but Claire North has given me a new appreciation of them. With The House of Odysseus, and Ithaca before it, she's crafted a narrative packed with strong women, men who think they're strong, but tend not to be, and flawed gods. A narrative that inverts that of the more traditional myths . I've been drawn in by the island of Ithaca, its inhabitants and their intrigues and will be keeping my fingers crossed that the final book in The Songs of Penelope maintains the high standard set by the first two volumes..

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an advanced copy.

Obsessed with this series.

North takes us right back to Ithaca and Queen Penelope but with a twist. I loved Aphrodites perspective on the ongoings of Ithaca and three cleverness of Penelope.

I cannot wait for the next book, with Odysseus back how will Penelope manage?

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: House of Odysseus
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Book 2 of Songs of Penelope
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Claire North
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Feminist Mythology
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: eARC
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 24th August 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 16th July 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 5/5

”We women of sky and fire, we goddesses, we are so mighty, and yet if we learn anything from old mother Hera, it is that the brighter we blaze, the more the men line up to make us fall. Our power will be suppressed, subdued, and we will be turned from creatures of immortal majesty to cowering wives and simpering whores, adjuncts merely to a story told by a man. A story about a man.”

House of Odysseus has absolutely blown me away. I read Ithaca last year and thoroughly enjoyed it but I felt like it suffered from two things: slow pacing and a disconnect from the main characters of the story.

Well, Claire North has leveled UP. I felt way more emotionally invested in ALL the characters in this book. I can’t even put my finger on why that is. My theory is that because this story is told from Aphrodite’s point of view, rather than Hera’s, Aphrodite took a more actively participating role in the lives of the characters. The mortals in the story have to surrender to Aphrodite’s whims and follies and gain from her divinity. I felt that there wasn’t much of that in Ithaca. The pacing is fast, I could have consumed this in a matter of hours if it wasn’t for my stupid human needs like eating and sleeping.

In fact, the point of view of Aphrodite is one of my favourite aspects of this novel. It provides such an amusing, slightly sensual, and very sassy overtone. It helps that the writing is completely flawless, which is not a compliment I give away lightly. The plot itself gave me literal goosebumps!

Penelope was the main star of the show but the author highlighted the women who were wronged, the women who outsmarted the men, and the women who bested men in a fight. Whilst I liked Penelope in the story of Ithaca, I fell completely and irrevocably in love with her in House of Odysseus. My Queen!

House of Odysseus is a feminist retelling of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, who was left to run Ithaca for twenty years whilst Odysseus sailed to the Battle of Troy. This story explores female desire, has exceptional political court intrigue, and is a lesson in underestimating women.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Perfect follow on from Ithaca. I love anything along the lines of Greek tragedies and historical fiction. This is stunningly beautiful. Thank you for approving me for the arc.

Thank you for approving me to read this. I really loved how this is a female focussed story about all of the different levels of women it takes to run a country and not just the usual mythical retellings of goddesses / wives. Unfortunately, I found the prose style really off putting whilst reading and the first 25% of the book incredibly slow. Whilst I have praised the female led story, I felt some of the characters that we know well from myth (Athena, Aphrodite) were typecast and unoriginal. Perhaps this was done intentionally by the author, however, I could not see any kind of lesson or moment within the book to suggest that this choice was going to be explained to the reader and it was made technically. I won’t be reviewing this book on my Instagram as, sadly, I was unable to finish it.

If you had asked me whether I expected the continuation of Ithaca to have a different narrator that would somehow seamlessly blend in after Hera’s all-consuming vitriol and disillusionment, I would have said something very intelligent along the lines of, “Uh, why?” And yet, lo and behold, it was so; in came Aphrodite, the goddess taking first place on my Least Likely Narrator list.

It's frankly amazing what this book has accomplished here: it is undoubtedly the same story, with the setting still full of heartbreak, stifling societal norms and expectations and derailed futures, but Aphrodite is so full of, well, l o v e that it almost makes the whole tragedy easier to bear. Where Hera was boiling with rage and dealing in harsh truths, Aphrodite is constantly on about beauty (though quite often slipping into appreciating its physical aspect) and, in a way, opportunities – opportunities to build bridges and ties and yourself, and in so doing escape the cage or slip through its bars. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean she overlooks the stunning amount of unfairness going on, precisely, but for me it does make House of Odysseus a marginally lighter read than Ithaca.

With Aphrodite, the secondary focus shifts from Hera’s favorite Clytemnestra, who dared to be queen, to her own favorite – Helen, beautiful and beloved, with her own terrible struggles and her own terrible husband. Though the blurb mentions her as Penelope’s ally, for most of the book Helen just seems to be… there, adored by the goddess and dismissed by everyone else, and so the role she plays is truly revealed only later on. Needless to say, the political plotting overall remains superb.

Just like Ithaca, the story brings to the forefront a range of issues that women have been facing throughout history – perhaps more so in the past, but not irrelevant in our time either. Under North’s pen, the characters – mortal and immortal both – come to life. Being Kate Griffin/Claire Norton’s fan is a gift that keeps on giving, and I’m so pleased about that.

Thanks to #Netgalley for an arc of #Houseofodysseus

Reviewed by my daughter who is a Claire North fan and who has a fascination with Greek Mythology.

This is a really good follow up to Ithaca. It is really fast paced, exciting and is a brilliant take on the mythology. Once I started reading it was very hard to put down and even when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. I think the writer loves mythology too and I think she wants to make it accessible to everyone, I would definitely recommend this to my friends and my school.
I'm looking forward to the next one now.

During Odysseus’ twenty year absence from the isle of Ithaca, his wife, Penelope, has been maintaining control of the isle, putting off the suitors who would take his place, and generally keeping things running as best she can. But her efforts are put to the test when Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra return to Ithaca seeking her help. They are closely followed by their uncle Menelaus, King of Sparta, who is determined to prove that Orestes has lost his mind since killing his own mother and is not fit to rule, hoping to seize the Mycenean throne for himself.

House of Odysseus is slightly faster paced than Ithaca was, and centres around Penelope’s cunning in thwarting Menelaus’ plans, giving it a more detailed plot than Ithaca which mainly told the story of the suitors bothering Penelope while Odysseus was away. This made House of Odysseus more original and substantial, and I absolutely loved it.

All the characters, male and female, are excellently written and perfectly interpreted, in my opinion, from the traditional mythology and given a more modern spin. I loved Aphrodite as the narrator and her comments on the goddesses, humans and situations throughout the story were absolutely spot on. I also think the feminist take on the various female characters was excellently done, as they are cunning and powerful, but are forced to play the role of feeble women as expected by the men. It doesn’t come across as at all unrealistic that these women would have been able to manipulate events and twist things around according to their own plans, without being caught out by the men who simply cannot fathom that a woman would be able to pull off the things that Penelope does. Helen was also a perfect interpretation of the woman from myth; how would the woman who caused the Trojan war really be getting on after being reclaimed by her husband having humiliated him beyond repair? Claire North’s representation of her is fantastic.

I cannot wait for book #3 (although I do have some trepidation about the fate of certain characters when Odysseus does finally return…)

I would recommend coming into the Songs of Penelope series with some background knowledge of the Battle of Troy and the Odyssey, and Greek mythology in general, as it will make the characters and the politics in this book much easier to understand.

A great read that goes in depth about Penelope. It was nice to get a full book about the clever and cunning wife of Odysseus

House of Odysseus is the sequel to Ithaca told from the perspective of Penelope and narrated by Aphrodite.
A beautiful novel that allows the perspectives of the women of these tales to shine through and finally be told how they are meant too. The writing is completely immersive and I couldn't put this down. I loved seeing all the different relationships between the women and the intricacies of Ancient Greece, I truly felt like I was transported there and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

I received this book as a free copy from Netgalley. At the beginning I did not know if I would enjoy it. So different from the story of Penelope that I knew.
True to form, I’ve read book 2 first. However I think it worked for me. Penelope, queen of Ithaca in an age when women aren’t noticed, aren’t written about and if they are, blamed for all the woes.
This story involve Orestes and Elektra, children of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. They kill their mother who has killed their father. Orestes is now haunted by The Furies and going mad…..or is he? Elektra brings him to Ithaca, Menelaus follow, nursing a desire to be King of Kings and wanting to show the world his nephew is not fit to be king of kings. However he comes up against Penelope and her band of Sisters….women who will do what they have to do, knowing that men will take the credit.
Well written, from the goddess Aphrodite’s viewpoint and view of what is unfolding. I liked Penelope’s character, a strong woman in a man’s world, letting the men think it was all their idea. I also liked the different version of Helen of Troy, to the world fluffy beautiful but not bright. In reality, a strong and more astute woman than she is given credit for.

I like Greek myths and haven’t always like the modern takes on the stories but this one I loved, a story within a story. I am kind of hoping there might be a third….to put a different slant on what happens to the maids in the traditional myth. I would recommend this book.

The sequel to Ithaca. Another retelling of Homeric myth from the perspective of Penelope, this time narrated by Aphrodite.

Orestes and Elektra return to Ithaka on pilgrimage. Menaleus of Sparta follows - Orestes is mad, and he has an eye on Mycaenae. Penelope has to deal with all this, keeping the status quo and preserving her good name and Odysseus’ kingdom.

Very much in the same style as Ithaka, but didn’t seem to lag as much, and read much faster.

Recommended.

This is good - and, like its predecessor, head and shoulders above many of the current Greek retellings. However, I don't think it's *quite* as good as Ithaca. Bringing the action centre stage rather than the behind-the-scenes subversion makes the narrative lose something, to my mind. Still well worth reading, though. And I keep wondering about the sequel....

Oh I have been a lucky ducky. The last book I read last year was Claire North's outstanding Ithaca. A retelling of the Ithacan events of the Odyssey centres on Penelope, narrated by Hera. So you can imagine that when I was approved for the second book in the trilogy on @netgallery I was utterly delighted.

This time our divine narrator is Aphrodite, Hera is in hot water with Zeus and anyway her favourite, Clytemnestra is dead, this installment brings Aphrodite's favourite, the legendary Helen, to Ithaca dragged by her husband Menelaus. Penelope is once again tasked with negotiating family squabbles as she must keep Orestes safe from the uncle that would take his throne.

Penelope continues to be a fascinating and sympathetic character but Aphrodite's narration elevates this second book. Hera's voice was rage, an inspiring need for justice, and her tenderness for Clytemnestra who did what Hera could never - permanently deal with a murderous, cheating husband - is very different to the savagely witty, sensuous, and yet loving voice of Aphrodite, who embraces all forms of love demonstrated including her admiration of Artemis' fierce platonic love for the women who worship and serve her on Ithaca.

This book gives women power not just in the way they have armed themselves against those who would attack their home but in the way they inhabit their homes, and the work that men look down upon. This is the key to both Penelope and Claire North's triumph in this book.

I absolutely loved it and can't wait for the final installment!

I didn't quite realise that this was a follow up to North's Ithaca initially but once I was back in that world I was quickly immersed in the story and found it to be a complete page turner that wove so many other sources together to make a compelling and believable version of the Orestes/Elektra story as well as that of Penelope herself.

I was so excited to read this second installment from Claire North, and it did not disappoint. Continuing the story of Penelope and the women of Ithaca left behind during the Trojan War, we now see the aftermath of Clytemnestra's death at the hands of Orestes. Fantastic characterisation and pace, I was bereft when I finished it and now need the third volume. What a cliffhanger. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.