num_pages: 224
description: Margaret Atwood returns with a shrewd, funny, and insightful retelling of the myth of Odysseus from the point of view of Penelope. Describing her own remarkable vision, the author writes in the foreword, “I’ve chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn’t hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I’ve always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself.” One of the high points of literary fiction in 2005, this critically acclaimed story found a vast audience and is finally available in paperback.
language: English
title: The Penelopiad
titlecomplete: The Penelopiad
characters: Helen of Troy, Penelope (wife of Odysseus), Eurycleia, Odysseus, Telemachus
genres: Retellings, Canada, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Historical, Greek Mythology, Fantasy, Classics, Feminism, Fiction
ratings_count: 68150
places: Greece, Ancient Greece, Ithaca
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
category: Adult Literature
publisher: Canongate U.S.