I am a huge fan of Greek Mythology and was fascinated by the (what I now realise were 'basics') since school. Any retellings that I have come across as an adult has only been to flare that interest and get a deeper understanding of the myths and characters that make up these intriguing mystical tales and that brought me to Ithaca by Claire North. Claire North's reputation as a brilliant author surpasses her and I had heard so much praise before I picked up this book - my first of hers.

I'm glad I had read Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati before picking this one up as it acts as the prequel ending on the War of Troy and Ithaca picks up on events that take place immediately after the war (mere coincidence). This book has been written for hard core fans of Greek Mythology and should definitely not act as an introduction for readers. The book opens up with multiple characters and also has multiple FMC/protagonists so, despite having some little knowledge of Penelope, Clytemnestra, Elektra and understanding references that were made to Helen, I was otherwise confused by the assortment of supporting characters that I came across from the first page, not knowing if I needed to know their name/if there was any significance to their role in the story - and I wouldn't know until much later.

The story is also told with the Goddess Hera acting as a narrator - dark humour, daring, impatience and compassion for those she roots for, are the main traits of the goddess (from the author's POV) so you can expect a rollercoaster ride - the writing is modern, unsophisticated and crass in parts (an indication of the times where modesty was a virtue only imposed (read: afforded) to the likes of women who were expected to "stay in their lane" and the courage by the women to rebel against this image in the book is why it grew on me the more I read!)

Once you become comfortable with the writing style, this book was enjoyable and I couldn't put it down - I feel the author has taken hold of the narrative to write a feminist tale where the women are in control and more courageous/deliberate and involved than what the legends have said - Hera often challenges and refers to 'the poets' only writing stories/manipulating the story to serve the poets' purpose.

It did take a while for me to become accustomed to the story/writing style, so I think the first half felt weaker/slower for me personally, than the second half. I am going to try and read more by this author, given the hype as one of the best in the business when it comes to Greek mytho retellings and Ithaca itself is the first book in a series, so I am intrigued to read on and see what the others are about!

3.5 stars! Thank you @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup for the ARC in exchange for an honest unedited review.

Wow. And I do not say that easily. This is a fascinating first book in what promises to be a historical series to follow!

This is quite a fun mark for my time here on the bookish internet. I started this blog and my bookstagram roughly within a few months of each other. And one of my first books I posted on the latter was my thoughts on The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Now 4 years on almost and Ithaca was sent my way for review. A great circle of my love for Greek myth and being online too much.

When Odysseus left the island of Ithaca seventeen years ago to fight at Troy, he left behind his throne and his family.
Odysseus's wife, Penelope, has done her best to keep the kingdom of Ithaca running, and her people safe, but the palace is full of men who desire the empty throne.
One wrong move could cause war, but there is only so much Penelope can do with her limited resources and allies. Sooner or later, she will have to make a choice, one that could leave Ithaca in turmoil.

Like most people, I knew more about Odysseus than Penelope going into this book. I'm a fan of Greek mythology, so I was interested in finding out more about Penelope and Ithaca.
Penelope was a relatable and likeable protagonist - she was in a very difficult position, and she hadn't seen her husband in nearly two decades, and didn't even know if Odysseus was still alive.
I thought Penelope was smart and I liked her relationships with the maids and Medon, one of the councillors.
The novel was told from the perspective of Hera, which surprised me, but I enjoyed. Hera is one of the main Greek gods that I know the least about, so it was interesting to read her thoughts and reactions to what was happening.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention, but I feel that the book could have been just a little bit shorter.
The writing was easy to follow and I would read another book by the author, but I don't feel gripped or invested enough in the story to continue with the series.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Penelope is such an underrated and forgotten character in mythology! She is such a powerhouse and it’s always refreshing getting to hear the story of her ruling over Ithaca in the absence of Odysseys and wading off keen suitors. This was a great holiday read that had me hooked.
Having Hera’s POV was very interesting and I enjoyed the way we flew around the islands! However, the only limitation for me was that I would have loved more POV from Penelope.

This book was absolutely glorious.

This is the story of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and is the story that the ancient poets would not tell. While greek mythology alludes to the cleverness of Penelope, 'Ithaca' portrays this intelligence in all of its glory. Penelope is not a meek wife who simply waited for her husband to get home, but a shrewd and immensly capable queen worthy of being in the spotlight.

Narrated by the goddess Hera, the writing is full of wit and humour and is utterly immersive. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it. A perfect read for fans of greek mythology and its modern retellings!

(Thank-you very much to Netgalley and the publishers for having sent me a copy of the book!)

Ithaca by Claire North is a breath of fresh air in the genre of Greek mythology retellings, and honestly, that's an utter delight to witness.

Following the happenings on Ithaca during Odysseus' long journey home through the eyes of Hera, this book aims to be a more female-centred reimagining of the ancient tale. Having Hera as the main POV character gives this book such an unique voice and frankly, I dig it! I never much considered what Hera would sound like as a character, but upon reading this and giving it some consideration, I think that North did a great job at granting her a voice, with all her prickly personality traits thoroughly intact.

This was definitely more of a character-driven story than one that focusses mainly on a fast-moving plot, so if that's something you're into, I can wholly recommend it. I'm not going to say much about the plot because, well, since this is a retelling of one of the most famous tales ever, you guys are probably aware of it at least to some extent. Still, I think this book works very well at introducing the tale anew in an interesting perspective and voice, while staying relatively true to the source material and wrapping all that up in an accessible writing style that leaves you wanting more.

There are so many retellings from Ancient Greece these days, there’s a danger of them blurring after together if something different isn’t brought to the table by the author. On the occasion the difference is that the story of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, is narrated by the Goddess Hera, telling the tale as waits for her husband to return from Troy (the extended journey we know from The Odyssey) and suitors push her to marry.

While Hera as the narrator is an interesting POV, the problem is that you get the observation but not the thoughts/feelings as you would in the scene if the POV was Penelope herself. Instead you are intruding on the scene as opposed to being inside of it. Hera is an interesting and complex character and her blunt, opinionated voice is appreciated in some ways, I just wished to connect more with Penelope, a woman who is resilient and resourceful and stealthily rebellious to what others try to demand of her as she deceives her suitors.

In terms of characters, it’s quite busy in how many are introduced, however while this is Penelope’s story, it doesn’t necessarily feel like it, in fact when Clytemnestra appears in the story, it feels more like the story belongs to her, when not Hera, which is a little frustrating when Penelope is already a character overshadowed by her husband and now her sister. North does include a lot in this story, characters aside, and it can be quite busy, overwhelming and confusing at times if you’re not reliant on knowing the details elsewhere.

I did enjoy North’s writing, not necessarily the direction of it sometimes as it’s a little scattered, but the writing itself is beautiful and easy to appreciate. My biggest issue is just that a story about Penelope, that I read for wanting to know about her, didn’t necessarily feel like a book truly dedicated to giving a voice to her. Greek mythology is a complex thing, with a lot of material to use, the direction just diluted a little for me. It is still a brilliant read though so thank you NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was, unfortunately, a bit of a slog to get through. Ithaca tells the story of Penelope - long suffering wife of Odysseus who spends her days weaving (badly) while keeping her suitors at bay. Her suitors are men from all over Greece who believe Odysseus to be dead, making Penelope prime real estate.

I've read a lot of retellings, and fortunately know Penelope's story pretty well because otherwise I would have been very confused going into this book. There's a huge cast of characters that are just placed into the narrative without any explanation of who they are. I enjoyed Hera's narration - she's a goddess known for her pettiness and revenge, and her quips added to the narrative well. However this decision also had the unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate effect of making me, as the reader, feel very disconnected with Penelope. Hera's very nature as a goddess is to remain emotionally detached. She timatelt doesn't really care about the emotions or plights of the little people, and this attitude translates to the reader too. Ultimately I found myself just not caring about what was happening. Add in that the plot itself is really slow, and even Hera's sarcasm couldn't save the story for me.

I love Penelope and how clever and loyal she is, but Ithaca really didn't do her the justice she deserved. And in a saturated Greek retelling market, this book didn't stand out for me.

DNF @ 47%

I have tried to read this book for such a long time, and I am afraid I just couldn't finish this. This book follows the gap between Odysseus being away, and Penelope quietly running the country. The book is narrated not in first person, not in third, but in second person - by none other than the goddess Hera, Queen of the Gods. This experimental approach to storytelling is valiant and I truly tried to finish it in order to respect this artistic choice, but I found Hera's voice quite difficult to like. She hates humans, constantly points out sexism (which is more than fair, but she points out the same thing over and over - poets will not speak of this in future etc because it was done by a woman). If it was slightly more developed, I would have enjoyed it more.

I think this book certainly has an audience, but it missed the mark slightly for me I'm afraid.

I was provided by a complimentary copy of this novel by Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.

The story is very slow paced. There are a lot of characters so it became confusing at times. The narrative voice of Hera is very good. This is very much a character focussed book.

the tale of odysseus has always been about odysseus. this story tells from his wife, the long forgotten perspective in the war of troy and how she struggled on ithaca, keeping the power balance in tact. inspiring, witty and so telling.

I was pleasantly surprised by this captivating historical fantasy novel that cleverly weaved in elements of Greek mythology. Although I don't typically gravitate towards retellings, this one truly captivated me. The feminist undertones were refreshing, with powerful female characters taking center stage in the narrative. The writing itself was exquisite, filled with beautiful prose. While I usually prefer faster-paced stories, this slow-burning tale still managed to enchant me. If you're a fan of books like Circe, I highly recommend giving this one a read.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

Claire North has been one of my favourite authors of recent years but I was truly surprised to see her switch genres from speculative fantasy to Greek mythology. In fairness, she is not the first author to travel back to that era to shine a feminist lens on a period which was objectively speaking horrific for women. It has been eye-opening for me in recent years to revisit these tales of heroism which captured my imagination as a child. When I tried to have a season of reading round Greek mythology, I was left with the crystal clear realisation that every single one of the heroes of the Golden Age and beyond were actually complete and utter bastards. Total shower of shits. Cannot emphasise enough. The result though is that a lot of these retellings end up being incredibly depressing - would North's take on Ithaca manage to find some sunshine or would it be another tale of misogyny and misery?

Seventeen years after the departure of King Odysseus, Ithaca is a kingdom on a knife edge. With him went all the men of working age and the women of Ithaca have had to learn to watch their own backs. But now the suitors are circling, draining the stores and constantly spoiling for a fight. Queen Penelope is trying to keep order while maintaining the fiction that a woman would never attempt to wield power. Working with her are her trusted band of maidservants, all of them determined to keep the realm at peace.

Given that Margaret Atwood has already written The Penelopiad, the question hovers over what this book really brings to the table in terms of discourse over the role of women in ancient mythology. We know that they had no rights, no dignity and no respect. We know that sexual violence was rampant and that where it occurred, blame was always laid at the woman's door. There is the horror over Odysseus' slaughter of all his wife's maids upon his return. Queen Penelope kept the plates spinning during her husband's absence but when he finally came back, he murdered all she held dear. There is no happily ever after here. But where The Penelopiad is part poetry, Ithaca is far more grounded in the everyday. How can Penelope get through another day without Ithaca descending into anarchy? Watching her is Hera, fallen queen of the Gods, trying to help but just as restricted as any of the human women.

Ithaca seems more like a real place in this version of the story. The tensions crackle. Penelope tries to rule without it ever seeming as though she is trying to be in charge. Telemachus stomps about trying to make everyone believe he is a fully grown man. The various suitors try to curry favour and gain advantage. And somewhere far off, Odysseus rolls about on a couch with Calypso the nymph. But even this back-biting den of betrayal can get a lot worse. There are pirates visiting once a month leaving a trail of destruction in an island low on protectors. And then Orestes and Electra turn up demanding assistance in avenging the death of their father, meaning that they require help to hunt down and execute their mother.

Still, the novel did feel rather overwhelmed by its huge cast list and I struggled to keep track of all of Penelope's handmaidens. I completely lost the thread of each of their personal attributes. They all felt fairly interchangeable even though North had clearly tried to imbue them with individuality. At one point I even considered abandoning the book altogether which I have never been tempted to do before with a Claire North novel. While I enjoyed Hera's narration and commentary, they almost belonged in a different book as Hera rather steals the show. Penelope becomes a supporting character where she probably ought to have been the lead.

Ithaca feels like a passion project for North. She clearly knows her stuff in terms of the classical background. I had been unaware of the background of Clytemnestra's first marriage and the brutal circumstances under which she became Agamemnon's wife. In the words of the classic musical Chicago, he had it coming. He only had himself to blame. The novel did leave me feeling more sympathetic to Electra but also far more interested in Orestes than I have ever been before. So Ithaca does have its compelling moments and I will be heading over to the sequel The House of Odysseus sooner or later. It is a depressing prospect though since it will doubtless feature the massacre of all the maidservants. But then so does so much of Greek mythology.

For a novel that was such a step change for North, I think it is unsurprising that it had its bumpy moments. Still, North does offer an innovative interpretation of Penelope's queendom and her vision of the gods on Mount Olympus was also intriguing. Ithaca celebrates the strength of women in the darkest of times, of the female ability to survive and endure. The women may not have ended up celebrated as shining heroes but it was their determination that Ithaca must survive which kept the kingdom intact. In protecting their homestead, they were perhaps the truer champions. A melancholy yet thoughtful spin on a tale almost as old as time, Ithaca celebrates the women who kept the home fires burning and who have been too long left unsung.

Fans of Natalie Haynes and Madeline Miller will appreciate this Penelope tale. She may appear to be a royal, powerful person as Queen of Ithaca, but in ancient Greece, she had little influence. Fortunately, the Goddess Hera has developed a fondness for her. Thus, a tale of women and the roles they play (willingly or unwillingly) that is not mentioned by the poets emerges. In this fantastic work of historical fiction, Hera stood out to me as the finest character. More human than many of the story's mortal characters is this queen of queens and mother of the gods. Her distinctive point of view provided the story force and depth.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book quite early on at around the 50 page mark. I was highly anticipating reading this but I found the writing style to be quite difficult to follow, which isn't at all helped by the genre (although I can't really fault this).

The best way I could describe my experience reading this story is that it was like looking at a large painting in a museum and not knowing/ not being guided where to look or focus. I appreciate the art but I can't quite grasp it for myself. Maybe I'll re-try reading it again at a future date.

Nevertheless, I thank you for the opportunity of being provided with an ARC and I will look forward to more of Claire North's releases.

This was such an addictive and I really liked the idea of the story being told in Hera's perspective. It was interesting to see it from her view as Penelope deals with everything going on in Ithaca.

I felt that this story was really well written and flowed seamlessly. I'm excited to read the next book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

ITHACA is an incredible novel, and one I wished I'd red earlier. The Greek feminist retelling genre is becoming increasingly glutted, which means I'm having to be come more discerning in my expectations and in what I'll pick up, but ITHACA blew me away in both its depiction of Ancient Greek women and its choice of narrator in Hera.

We all know Hera, or we think we do: petty, spiteful, jealous of Zeus' philandering and the resultant offspring. But there's a growing wave of research that Hera predates Olympus in her own right as a fertility goddess, and I was delighted to see this woven into Hera's backstory and characterisation. She's one of the best things about this book: I loved her snide asides and her interactions with other gods. The female Greek goddesses are treated in much the same way as Greek mortal women: constrained by the patriarchy of the gods, fighting for the choices and power that will give them autonomy within the limits set upon them by men obsessed with honour and the chance to become legend. Even the better men in this book do not come off well.

This is both a book about Penelope and not about her. It's about her, Clytemnestra, and Helen, three Greek queens who will become legend for very different things. It's about power, and the varying ways women grasp for power in this brutal world--overtly and covertly--and how they seem to be so easily punished for it, regardless.

I recently got an ARC of the next book in this series, which will be narrated by Aphrodite and involve Helen of Sparta/Troy, and I just can't wait.

I really enjoyed this.

We follow the tale of Penelope, the queen of Ithaca, as her suitors grow increasingly violent while her husband is presumed missing from Troy. Her young son is desperate to prove himself and there are pirates raiding their land. All this happens under the invisible watchful eye of Hera, Queen of the Gods, as she takes an interest in the lives of the women of Ithaca.

Told from the point of view of Hera, Claire North weaves a slow tale that builds with tension, gradually letting the politics and events of the story play out.

I adored how North portrayed Hera and Penelope! Never did I think I'd like a portrayal from Hera but damn this goddess had sass and I was here for it. In mythology Penelope is a largely bland character but here she was a quietly strong and watchful figure as she tended to pause before responding or acting and I found this portrayal fascinating. Especially her interactions with the women around her.

The pace was slow and I can see why people would think it was too slow however for me it crafted a rich and immersive world and made the characters, politics and tension even richer. We see flashes of the past, and other figures in history, leaving you to piece together who these characters were. I found this initially confusing but with a knowledge of Greek mythology you are able to piece who is who together. If you didn't, these flashbacks are so quick it doesn't affect the story.

Filled with wit, a very sassy goddess, and action filled tale, this was a strong and cleverly woven female-focused myth retelling, and I can't wait for the sequel!

A rather slow retelling of Penelope on Ithaka waiting for the return of Odysseus. Nicely done, and largely told from the point of view of Hera, it weaves Penelope’s story with the Oresteia, and has a feminist perspective: what happens when women are left behind when their men do not return from war.

I felt it could have been a bit faster paced, and the internal monologue did slow things a lot; but having the point of view being a goddess meant that the scene could shift elsewhere without breaking immersion. Set at the end of the Bronze Age, Hera is much reduced from her position as Great Mother; she has lost agency to Zeus in parallel with the reduced position of women in general. Women with agency are deplored as not being womanly.

I did like this, although I found the pacing a bit slow.