The House of Odysseus by Claire North

I practically hoover up these Greek and Roman retellings from different (often women or Gods or mythical character) perspectives, and Claire North is no different. This is the second book of the Penelope trilogy, zooming in on Penelope’s time on Ithaca as a solitary queen.

Now these books are a bit different from others that I love in this genre as the tone is much more humorous, more snarky. Some of the social observations are spot-on, especially Penelope’s “mum guilt”. I don’t necessarily need to “agree” with all the editorial choices, as I think the novel stands up as a good read in of itself. But maybe there are a few things I could do without.

I don’t necessarily think it needed to be three relatively long novels, but I understand the need and desire to eke things out. I think the final one is going to be the best and I’m ordering it from the library as we speak!

I really like the subversion of the Helen character and the exploration of (brutal) Bronze Age sexual politics.