But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world. If the kings of Greece find out that you are thinking of raising an army – women – and army of women! Hera sees everything and everyone, Hera knows everything and describes everyone, it's an all-seeing eye that plunges you into the story from an advantageous position of observer that won't miss anything. These characters are given depth; they are entertainingly and deeply flawed, ultimately grappling with their own place in a patriarchal society . What she doesn't understand is why, being the way it is, society is so insufferably stupid, run by flaming idiots.

It is told by the goddess Hera, who feels largely forgotten by the poets in the shadow of her husband Zeus, and step daughters, Athena and Artemis. She’s been inundated with suitors, seeking her hand in marriage because, in their minds, she’s quite obviously a widow.Because while this is Penelope's story first and foremost, we do not actually hear from her first-hand. In addition to tactfully handling the volatile situation with her suitors, she is also troubled by the presence of a queen being hunted by her vengeful children for murdering their father. Now, she has begun a new series entitled The Songs of Penelope, beginning with Ithacawhich was released earlier this year. The addition of this being told from Hera’s POV though is what really takes the feminist undertone to a new level.

Similarly, I enjoyed the little glimpses we get of other Goddesses or looks into what they are up to.It did allow a more extensive investigation of the facts, but I think it took away from the emotion of the events surrounding her. It’s very much along the lines of if Themyscira was a secret society and Hippolyta, Wonder Woman and all the others were hiding their actions from the men. The balance she was able to strike between respecting the material while also delivering snark and sarcasm in a way that brightened the story without ever making light of it, was astounding.

The POV used throughout the book alternates between third person omniscient, third person limited, second person, first person, then also shifts between present tense and sometimes using past tense. Alan McMonagle possesses a style that is all his own and I found his first novel compelling from start to finish. In each essay another circuit closes, bringing a jolt of understanding – and heart-stopping, heart-starting wonder.North does a fantastic job of showing just how precarious Penelope’s position is, in a world where women are seen as second class citizens, Penelope risks not only her own life, but that of her people by refusing to choose a new husband to rule Ithaca. Athena who, when a woman was raped on her alter blamed the woman instead of the ‘great’ man who did it. But the stories that will live for ever are of the lost ones, the fearful ones, who through bitter hardship and despair find hope, find strength – find their way home. Not only that, but the island suffers from pirates invading every full moon and, if that wasn't enough, when Penelope's cousin Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon, she's rumoured to have fled to Ithaca. The men have left for Troy and all the other nations’ rulers have come back (or their successors have), but Ithaca is still without its king.

That being said, North’s prose and the fluidity of her storytelling made the story, which dealt with some truly heavy topics, flow with an ease that had me reading huge chunks in one go, never quite willing, or ready, to put it down. Skilfully meshing imagination with reality, McMonagle sets out to discover if the same things can be found at home. There is a lot of potential in the beautiful writing (and sometimes interesting, more contemporary, phrasings) in Ithaca though. I'm no classics scholar, but I know just enough to appreciate the skill with which she weaves in other stories - Clytemnestra's, most importantly, but also pirates and Egyptians - to imbue Penelope with even more agency and foresight.Aged sixteen, Telemachus finds himself abandoned, his father’s house overrun with men pursuing his beautiful mother, Penelope, and devouring the family’s wealth. Ithaca re-tells Homer’s famous poem, The Odyssey, from the point of view of Odysseus’ resourceful and troubled son, describing Odysseus’s extraordinary voyage from Troy to the gates of hell, and Telemachus’s own journey from boyhood to the desperate struggle that wins back his home … and his father. Of course, they actually care nothing about Penelope; they all just want to claim her kingdom for their own.