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Nov 21, 2011wallyb rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
If reading the Odyssey is your kind of thing, you will probably enjoy a book like this, which riffs on the original story by telling Penelope's part in her voice - she now resides in Hades, and looks back at the main story and what she knew of Odysseus' travels while she held the royal estates as best as she could. Atwood started this when she wondered why Odysseus hanged the 12 maids of Penelope on his return; it's not explained at all in the original, and Atwood decided that exploring that question would open up the story of Penelope in its own way. So: interesting story, nice variations and explanations of the original material, and something more for people who enjoyed Zachary Mason's book The Lost Books of the Odyssey