The Penelopiad

In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope, the daughter of the Spartan king Icarius and cousin of Helen the Beautiful, is presented as the ideal of a faithful wife. For twenty long years she waits for her husband Odysseus to return from the Trojan War, resisting the advances of greedy suitors. In Margaret Atwood's version, this ancient myth takes on a new meaning. The reader is presented with the story of Penelope's life, told by herself - a story full of contradictions and secrets, imbued with irony and passion, and presenting many familiar images and motifs of ancient mythology in a completely unexpected light.