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The Songs of Penelope #3
The Last Song of Penelope
Following the critically acclaimed Ithaca and House of Odysseus comes the final novel in Claire North's Songs of Penelope trilogy - an exquisite, gripping tale that breathes life into ancient myth. This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before.Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned. For twenty years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings. But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break . . .A beggar has arrived at the Palace. Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors - but Penelope recognises in him something her husband, Odysseus, returned at last. Yet this Odysseus is no hero. By returning to the island in disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors - vengeance that will spark a civil war - but he's testing the loyalty of his queen. Has she been faithful to him all these years? And how much blood is Odysseus willing to shed to be sure?The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca's halls. But first, Penelope must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her family alive, whatever the cost . . .
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2024
About the author
Claire North
21 books3,795 followersClaire North is actually Catherine Webb, a Carnegie Medal-nominated young-adult novel author whose first book, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was just 14 years old. She went on to write seven more successful YA novels.
Claire North is a pseudonym for adult fantasy books written by Catherine Webb, who also writes under the pseudonym Kate Griffin.
Claire North is a pseudonym for adult fantasy books written by Catherine Webb, who also writes under the pseudonym Kate Griffin.
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June 24, 2024
"I am Athena, and my love is marble within my chest."
Three queens there were in Greece:
One beloved of Hera, who killed her husband and died (Ithaca),
One who belongs to the goddess of love and her name will live for as long as there is love (House of Odysseus),
And here it is at last, The Last Song of Penelope, One who wed to the beloved of Athena...
"Let his name be remembered for ever, let his story outlast the high temple upon the mountain peak, let all who hear it speak of Odysseus. And when you tell his story, remember: though he was lost, he was not alone. I was always by his side. Sing, poets, of Athena."
This trilogy was indeed worth reading, I am not saying it is perfect... Still, I enjoyed it. It was so smart, each book narrated by a goddess...
In this last conclusion, the story of Odysseus and Penelope after 20 years, after bloodshed, her beloved husband came back, was he beloved at all, loveable now?!
I always wonder in Penelope's story if she is so much in love with her husband and waiting for him so long, or is it just for the sake of her son?! Or only it was Homer building 3 women and each one chose a different path!
And now this book, The Last Song of Penelope:
"Listen closely, for this is the only time I will tell it. A whispered secret, a hidden tale – this is the story of what actually happened when Odysseus returned to Ithaca."
I always said Athena is the tricky one, do I in love or hate her?! Claire North did a smart thing, actually she did in all three books...we all choose between bad and worse, choose for the greater good, and sometimes mistaken
"Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked. Perhaps, if I were not also the lady of war, I would be wise enough to be content."
I said before in the last book that I also was among others who didn't enjoy the first book, as much as it deserved, but the story improved in the next two, and with some leniency, this deserves 5 stars!
Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK (Orbit) via NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Last Song of Penelope (The Songs of Penelope #3) by Claire North, I have given my honest review.
few long fav quotes:
I made myself like a man of Olympus. I thought , if I did so, that I would finally be able to show my power, to blaze – not as some silly woman, but as wisdom and war incarnate, bright amongst the gods. In some small ways, it worked. I was not mocked, as Aphrodite is; not dismissed so readily as Hera or Demeter when they speak. It was never quite enough, but it was something – and something was all I could grasp. I did not then appreciate what else would come from making myself a man. For these are the things a man may not be: frightened, ashamed, guilty, doubting, hurt, ignorant, full of need. The need to be seen. The need to be touched, the yearning to be held . The need to belong when broken as well as whole, in this ever-changing world.
Ares, of course, loves nothing more than a reckless charge into near-certain doom, the valour of the bloody man who must hold, hold, hold. He loves to cradle a warrior in his arms as he dies, one who did the impossible – and as soon as the life has faded from the dead man’s eyes he stands, shrugs and moves on without a care. War has no time, he says, to remember the names of the dead – that is a problem for peace. Nothing will get done if we stop to linger. This moment – just this – is the only thing that matters.
I have done everything in my power to be . . . relevant. To make the world about me wise, to make wisdom greater than war. I have failed. Men fight and die, and for what? Glory and power and spite and pride – nothing more. Gods and kings spin their stories, and in their stories it is good to die for one man’s pride and to give thanks for the chains that are put about the necks of every child born less than a king. And I thought . . . if I could not wield power through wisdom, or mercy, or justice, then perhaps I could take power in this other way. Perhaps if I became like these men of blood and cruelty, that would be enough. So I banished from my heart all hopes of tenderness, compassion, longing or kindness. I turned away friends for fear of being wounded, laid aside love as a danger, punished women for the things men do, denied my loneliness and refuted my fears.
Three queens there were in Greece:
One beloved of Hera, who killed her husband and died (Ithaca),
One who belongs to the goddess of love and her name will live for as long as there is love (House of Odysseus),
And here it is at last, The Last Song of Penelope, One who wed to the beloved of Athena...
"Let his name be remembered for ever, let his story outlast the high temple upon the mountain peak, let all who hear it speak of Odysseus. And when you tell his story, remember: though he was lost, he was not alone. I was always by his side. Sing, poets, of Athena."
This trilogy was indeed worth reading, I am not saying it is perfect... Still, I enjoyed it. It was so smart, each book narrated by a goddess...
In this last conclusion, the story of Odysseus and Penelope after 20 years, after bloodshed, her beloved husband came back, was he beloved at all, loveable now?!
I always wonder in Penelope's story if she is so much in love with her husband and waiting for him so long, or is it just for the sake of her son?! Or only it was Homer building 3 women and each one chose a different path!
And now this book, The Last Song of Penelope:
"Listen closely, for this is the only time I will tell it. A whispered secret, a hidden tale – this is the story of what actually happened when Odysseus returned to Ithaca."
I always said Athena is the tricky one, do I in love or hate her?! Claire North did a smart thing, actually she did in all three books...we all choose between bad and worse, choose for the greater good, and sometimes mistaken
"Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked. Perhaps, if I were not also the lady of war, I would be wise enough to be content."
I said before in the last book that I also was among others who didn't enjoy the first book, as much as it deserved, but the story improved in the next two, and with some leniency, this deserves 5 stars!
Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK (Orbit) via NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Last Song of Penelope (The Songs of Penelope #3) by Claire North, I have given my honest review.
few long fav quotes:
I made myself like a man of Olympus. I thought , if I did so, that I would finally be able to show my power, to blaze – not as some silly woman, but as wisdom and war incarnate, bright amongst the gods. In some small ways, it worked. I was not mocked, as Aphrodite is; not dismissed so readily as Hera or Demeter when they speak. It was never quite enough, but it was something – and something was all I could grasp. I did not then appreciate what else would come from making myself a man. For these are the things a man may not be: frightened, ashamed, guilty, doubting, hurt, ignorant, full of need. The need to be seen. The need to be touched, the yearning to be held . The need to belong when broken as well as whole, in this ever-changing world.
Ares, of course, loves nothing more than a reckless charge into near-certain doom, the valour of the bloody man who must hold, hold, hold. He loves to cradle a warrior in his arms as he dies, one who did the impossible – and as soon as the life has faded from the dead man’s eyes he stands, shrugs and moves on without a care. War has no time, he says, to remember the names of the dead – that is a problem for peace. Nothing will get done if we stop to linger. This moment – just this – is the only thing that matters.
I have done everything in my power to be . . . relevant. To make the world about me wise, to make wisdom greater than war. I have failed. Men fight and die, and for what? Glory and power and spite and pride – nothing more. Gods and kings spin their stories, and in their stories it is good to die for one man’s pride and to give thanks for the chains that are put about the necks of every child born less than a king. And I thought . . . if I could not wield power through wisdom, or mercy, or justice, then perhaps I could take power in this other way. Perhaps if I became like these men of blood and cruelty, that would be enough. So I banished from my heart all hopes of tenderness, compassion, longing or kindness. I turned away friends for fear of being wounded, laid aside love as a danger, punished women for the things men do, denied my loneliness and refuted my fears.
June 2, 2024
3.5 Stars
This is a solid conclusion to the Greek myth fantasy series that started back with Ithaca. I enjoyed book one but I struggled with book two. Thankfully this finale entry returned back to the elements that I loved at the beginning of the series.
This is another feminist character driven entry with strong interpersonal moments. Like the previous entries, this one continues to be slow paced. This kind of story is very dependent on the complexity of the characters. I felt these characters were interesting, but could have been stronger.
This book would have a higher rating if I loved mythological retellings more. I suspect other readers who can’t get enough of this fantasy subgenre will love this trilogy even more than I did. I liked it, but I felt it played it a bit safe and I would have loved a more creative approach to the source material.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This is a solid conclusion to the Greek myth fantasy series that started back with Ithaca. I enjoyed book one but I struggled with book two. Thankfully this finale entry returned back to the elements that I loved at the beginning of the series.
This is another feminist character driven entry with strong interpersonal moments. Like the previous entries, this one continues to be slow paced. This kind of story is very dependent on the complexity of the characters. I felt these characters were interesting, but could have been stronger.
This book would have a higher rating if I loved mythological retellings more. I suspect other readers who can’t get enough of this fantasy subgenre will love this trilogy even more than I did. I liked it, but I felt it played it a bit safe and I would have loved a more creative approach to the source material.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
June 15, 2024
THE LAST SONG OF PENELOPE (THE SONGS OF PENELOPE #3)
BY: CLAIRE NORTH
This was my first reading experience with Claire North, as an author and I have mixed feelings about this last installment. I read this a couple weeks ago and it's the longest time that I have let a novel simmer in my mind after reading it and writing my review. I always write my review while a book is fresh in my mind with this being the exception. Anyone that takes the time to read my reviews, I'm pretty sure knows that I love Greek Mythology feminist re-told tales. My favorite are the two by Madeline Miller which the clear winner is Circe, followed by her former which served as an introduction to her gorgeous prose many years earlier called, The Song of Achilles. I didn't in all honesty find The Last Song of Penelope, which is the final installment in Claire North's trilogy as beautifully written as Madeline Miller's two of the novels which Circe being the clear favorite. If you are familiar with Greek Mythology this can be read as a standalone. I did find Athena's voice and guidance in the narration to be the most compelling written aspects of the novel which Claire North executed brilliantly.
The first book in this trilogy is called, Ithaca, which is narrated from the Greek goddess, Hera's perspective who was Zeus's wife. The second in this trilogy is called, House of Odysseus, which is narrated by the Greek goddess named, Aphrodite with some of the Greek goddess Artemis, as well. This one being reviewed is called, The Last Song of Penelope, which as I said is narrated by the Greek goddess, Athena. Athena is known in Greek Mythology as the goddess who represents: war, wisdom and military victory, but also includes a representation of the arts. The second half of this novel was my least favorite part of the book since it is when Penelope realizes that the shabby looking man who had disguised himself as a beggar is her husband, Odysseus. The reason I didn't feel as engaged in the writing was because it featured battles where they took place at Odysseus's father's farm where Odysseus has followed Penelope's ideas, which didn't feel organic. Because I've studied this subject matter on a scholarly level extensively, I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I should have.
In this re-telling in the feminist representation starts out with descriptions of Ithaca being an Island that was thought inferior since the land is scraggy, scrub brush and rocky, who most of the other kingdoms of Greece felt it less desirable to inhabit. Penelope has reigned by her strategic fashion of not alienating the vast amount of suitors who wish to marry her. One Egyptian King is given more focus in the narrative which was instrumental in his involvement with Penelope and Odysseus's son Telemachus learning to fight. Odysseus has been absent for nearly twenty years which if you are familiar with Homer's "Odyssey", and, "The Iliad," in short where he spent ten years fighting in the Trojan War to simplify it. It actually contains much, much more. For the sake of this novel and review I have omitted a wealth of information. Odysseus took with him all the strong men of fighting age off with him to fight with the other kings and mortals. This left Penelope in a vulnerable position to deal with the suitors who think that she is a widow because of Odysseus's long absence. She has had to deal with an enormous burden being young when he left. There are other men who were also hoping to replace Odysseus as king which Penelope had to outwit such as pirates and King Menelaus, Helen's husband.
What is the difference between, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"? They are both epic poems written by Homer, with the scholarly texts that I studied and both contain more than twenty volumes each. I'm going to give a quick and short explanation. "The Iliad," should be read first since they are sequential. The Iliad is the epic poem about the Trojan War which Odysseus was fighting among the other kings of Greece which accounts for ten years of his time away from Ithaca. While the epic poem of "The Odyssey," is the story about the survivor of the war and his attempts to return home. For purposes of this trilogy, and "The Odyssey," it is Odysseus who takes from seven to ten years finding his way back to Ithaca. In this novel, and trilogy, this leaves Penelope utilizing all of her wits to keep other men from and kings from conquering Ithaca with the help of her trusted maidens and women. She has kept her suitors at bay and her son Telemachus who is now a grown man has just returned from searching for his father by which he doesn't have any news of whether Odysseus is alive or dead because he was unable to locate him. We the reader know, that Odysseus is safe and hiding on Ithaca disguised as the beggar, who is watching Penelope in trying to ascertain if she is/has been faithful to him.
The first half was more engaging for me than the second half by which I have already said was largely about battles of which there is retribution from some of the fathers of the suitors fighting Odysseus for something that he did. Actually, there were two things that he did in Claire North's version that has enraged Penelope and were the catalysts for her going to find safety to shelter with her father-in law, who is at Odysseus's father's farm. Before Odysseus makes his presence known Penelope is feeling guilty towards herself, in her view she feels responsible for Telemachus's indifference and hostility to her. She blames herself since she reasons within that she was neglectful of Telemachus's upbringing since she was always preoccupied with saving the kingdom of Ithaca. She is angry at Odysseus for reasons I won't say because they would be major spoilers. It has more to do with acts he did after he revealed who he was, making his presence known upon his return, than the twenty years he spent away.
In the parts of fighting that I found tedious and slow, but then again someone else who reads this may love it for its action driven plot. Odysseus and Telemachus who follow Penelope to the farm, with a small number of men will find themselves fighting for their lives. It is here that I noticed Claire North's writing infused in the empathetic voice of Athena's narration to be stunning. Athena who is created by North to employ her voice of reason, and fighting for just causes. as the goddess of war and wisdom. Athena is seen as a civilizing influence with her wisdom of war, in sharp contrast to Ares who is seen as representing the distasteful aspects of brutal warfare and slaughter. I did like this part when I felt the author's love of her central characters. One part of this is going to appeal to women as Penelope's is seen as the feminist icon who saves the the main characters by having her maidens and more warriors arrive within Elektra's army fight in an important battle. By bringing in women reinforcements where Odysseus, his father and Telemachus are outnumbered with each battle fought. As the battles proceed, and both sides rest and bury the dead. Next they regroup, and strategic decisions are made when their size of men left are greatly outnumbered by the opposition. As a feminist retelling having Odysseus portrayed as deferring to Penelope's decisions it works for this novel, but I found it unrealistic and that could've influenced my enjoyment of the first half to be more connected to the storytelling, characters and narrative to a greater degree.
In the final saga of Penelope, the song of Penelope is ending and the song of Odysseus's return to take his place as King of Ithaca again will happen if everybody is to be up to the task of cooperation. First it's up to Penelope to dig deep within her and with Athena's gentle guidance and voice it will test Penelope again to gather her wits and use her cunning to win a war for the fate of Ithaca. No matter what, or how grand the challenge, the lengths she will go to save her island and family, in ways that are unconventional and seldom done will surprise you.
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley, Claire North and Redhook Books, Redhook for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#TheLastSongofPenelope #ClaireNorth #RedhookBooksRedhook #NetGalley
BY: CLAIRE NORTH
This was my first reading experience with Claire North, as an author and I have mixed feelings about this last installment. I read this a couple weeks ago and it's the longest time that I have let a novel simmer in my mind after reading it and writing my review. I always write my review while a book is fresh in my mind with this being the exception. Anyone that takes the time to read my reviews, I'm pretty sure knows that I love Greek Mythology feminist re-told tales. My favorite are the two by Madeline Miller which the clear winner is Circe, followed by her former which served as an introduction to her gorgeous prose many years earlier called, The Song of Achilles. I didn't in all honesty find The Last Song of Penelope, which is the final installment in Claire North's trilogy as beautifully written as Madeline Miller's two of the novels which Circe being the clear favorite. If you are familiar with Greek Mythology this can be read as a standalone. I did find Athena's voice and guidance in the narration to be the most compelling written aspects of the novel which Claire North executed brilliantly.
The first book in this trilogy is called, Ithaca, which is narrated from the Greek goddess, Hera's perspective who was Zeus's wife. The second in this trilogy is called, House of Odysseus, which is narrated by the Greek goddess named, Aphrodite with some of the Greek goddess Artemis, as well. This one being reviewed is called, The Last Song of Penelope, which as I said is narrated by the Greek goddess, Athena. Athena is known in Greek Mythology as the goddess who represents: war, wisdom and military victory, but also includes a representation of the arts. The second half of this novel was my least favorite part of the book since it is when Penelope realizes that the shabby looking man who had disguised himself as a beggar is her husband, Odysseus. The reason I didn't feel as engaged in the writing was because it featured battles where they took place at Odysseus's father's farm where Odysseus has followed Penelope's ideas, which didn't feel organic. Because I've studied this subject matter on a scholarly level extensively, I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I should have.
In this re-telling in the feminist representation starts out with descriptions of Ithaca being an Island that was thought inferior since the land is scraggy, scrub brush and rocky, who most of the other kingdoms of Greece felt it less desirable to inhabit. Penelope has reigned by her strategic fashion of not alienating the vast amount of suitors who wish to marry her. One Egyptian King is given more focus in the narrative which was instrumental in his involvement with Penelope and Odysseus's son Telemachus learning to fight. Odysseus has been absent for nearly twenty years which if you are familiar with Homer's "Odyssey", and, "The Iliad," in short where he spent ten years fighting in the Trojan War to simplify it. It actually contains much, much more. For the sake of this novel and review I have omitted a wealth of information. Odysseus took with him all the strong men of fighting age off with him to fight with the other kings and mortals. This left Penelope in a vulnerable position to deal with the suitors who think that she is a widow because of Odysseus's long absence. She has had to deal with an enormous burden being young when he left. There are other men who were also hoping to replace Odysseus as king which Penelope had to outwit such as pirates and King Menelaus, Helen's husband.
What is the difference between, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"? They are both epic poems written by Homer, with the scholarly texts that I studied and both contain more than twenty volumes each. I'm going to give a quick and short explanation. "The Iliad," should be read first since they are sequential. The Iliad is the epic poem about the Trojan War which Odysseus was fighting among the other kings of Greece which accounts for ten years of his time away from Ithaca. While the epic poem of "The Odyssey," is the story about the survivor of the war and his attempts to return home. For purposes of this trilogy, and "The Odyssey," it is Odysseus who takes from seven to ten years finding his way back to Ithaca. In this novel, and trilogy, this leaves Penelope utilizing all of her wits to keep other men from and kings from conquering Ithaca with the help of her trusted maidens and women. She has kept her suitors at bay and her son Telemachus who is now a grown man has just returned from searching for his father by which he doesn't have any news of whether Odysseus is alive or dead because he was unable to locate him. We the reader know, that Odysseus is safe and hiding on Ithaca disguised as the beggar, who is watching Penelope in trying to ascertain if she is/has been faithful to him.
The first half was more engaging for me than the second half by which I have already said was largely about battles of which there is retribution from some of the fathers of the suitors fighting Odysseus for something that he did. Actually, there were two things that he did in Claire North's version that has enraged Penelope and were the catalysts for her going to find safety to shelter with her father-in law, who is at Odysseus's father's farm. Before Odysseus makes his presence known Penelope is feeling guilty towards herself, in her view she feels responsible for Telemachus's indifference and hostility to her. She blames herself since she reasons within that she was neglectful of Telemachus's upbringing since she was always preoccupied with saving the kingdom of Ithaca. She is angry at Odysseus for reasons I won't say because they would be major spoilers. It has more to do with acts he did after he revealed who he was, making his presence known upon his return, than the twenty years he spent away.
In the parts of fighting that I found tedious and slow, but then again someone else who reads this may love it for its action driven plot. Odysseus and Telemachus who follow Penelope to the farm, with a small number of men will find themselves fighting for their lives. It is here that I noticed Claire North's writing infused in the empathetic voice of Athena's narration to be stunning. Athena who is created by North to employ her voice of reason, and fighting for just causes. as the goddess of war and wisdom. Athena is seen as a civilizing influence with her wisdom of war, in sharp contrast to Ares who is seen as representing the distasteful aspects of brutal warfare and slaughter. I did like this part when I felt the author's love of her central characters. One part of this is going to appeal to women as Penelope's is seen as the feminist icon who saves the the main characters by having her maidens and more warriors arrive within Elektra's army fight in an important battle. By bringing in women reinforcements where Odysseus, his father and Telemachus are outnumbered with each battle fought. As the battles proceed, and both sides rest and bury the dead. Next they regroup, and strategic decisions are made when their size of men left are greatly outnumbered by the opposition. As a feminist retelling having Odysseus portrayed as deferring to Penelope's decisions it works for this novel, but I found it unrealistic and that could've influenced my enjoyment of the first half to be more connected to the storytelling, characters and narrative to a greater degree.
In the final saga of Penelope, the song of Penelope is ending and the song of Odysseus's return to take his place as King of Ithaca again will happen if everybody is to be up to the task of cooperation. First it's up to Penelope to dig deep within her and with Athena's gentle guidance and voice it will test Penelope again to gather her wits and use her cunning to win a war for the fate of Ithaca. No matter what, or how grand the challenge, the lengths she will go to save her island and family, in ways that are unconventional and seldom done will surprise you.
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley, Claire North and Redhook Books, Redhook for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#TheLastSongofPenelope #ClaireNorth #RedhookBooksRedhook #NetGalley
June 6, 2024
The Last Song Of Penelope is the final book in The Songs Of Penelope trilogy by award-winning, best-selling British author, Claire North. Odysseus is secretly back in Ithaca, posing as a filthy, smelly beggar while he checks out what Penelope’s been up to during his twenty-year absence. Telemachus has returned from his year-long search for his father empty-handed, from which the hundred suitors for Penelope’s hand deduce that Odysseus is dead: now is their time!
Odysseus and his son are plotting: the suitors must die. But Penelope isn’t fooled by the beggar rags or the act, and she’s quickly worked out what Telemachus and his father are up to. The odds look terrible, and even if they manage to slay all the suitors, that isn’t going to go down too well with their families and leaders. It’s bound to be a bloodbath with few survivors among them. So the clever Queen of Ithaca consults with her midnight council of women, and they make some contingency plans.
Some of the suitors describe Penelope as “tricksy” (there was that thing with the burial shroud for Laertes) and one of those tricks makes it easier for Odysseus, Telemachus and their tiny band when they carry out their massacre. Of course, the inevitable happens and soon they’re holed up at Laertes’s farm when the angry fathers turn up for revenge with mercenaries in tow.
All this time, Penelope is furious, about his distrust of her, and about the fate of some of her maids, so she’s denying Odysseus, never actually accepting that this man is he, referring to anything about her husband in the third person, which makes for some interesting conversations as she gets to comment on his twenty-year absence, and his poor behaviour, with some impunity.
It does take him some time to realise just how canny his wife is: “She was a woman alone, a widow in all but name, and Ithaca needed a strong king to guard its shores. This being so, naturally she would not turn away anyone who sought her hand, not least because if they were busy wooing, they would not be busy plundering, raiding or enslaving her peoples.”
There’s plenty of humour, especially when Laertes or Priene are participating: Priene tells Odysseus “Penelope is right – the isles need to have a king. You are the least awful choice. The one with the greatest story.” There’s also a bit of heartache when Penelope has to send the Egyptian packing, and her moving eulogy for one very close to her can’t fail to bring tears to the reader’s eye. And there are battles, with plenty of bloodshed despite some clever tactics.
This time, North uses the goddess Athena as her narrator who, with her emphasis on war and wisdom, offers quite a different perspective from that of Hera and Aphrodite. Odysseus may have been her favourite for a long time, but she’s coming to respect Penelope and see her intelligence and her worth.
North’s quick summary of the situation that many other poets describe is refreshingly frank, and quite delightful, at times almost tongue in cheek. Athena’s commentary on events and players, on the affairs of gods and mortals, is irreverent and often darkly funny, but also insightful. She observes: “Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked. Wisdom is rarely easy, too often an unwelcome guest.”
Even novices to the Greek myths and legends will be able to, with perhaps only a cursory check of Wikipedia, thoroughly enjoy North’s treatment of Penelope’s story. This is Greek myth at its most palatable and entertaining. Highly recommended!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK.
Odysseus and his son are plotting: the suitors must die. But Penelope isn’t fooled by the beggar rags or the act, and she’s quickly worked out what Telemachus and his father are up to. The odds look terrible, and even if they manage to slay all the suitors, that isn’t going to go down too well with their families and leaders. It’s bound to be a bloodbath with few survivors among them. So the clever Queen of Ithaca consults with her midnight council of women, and they make some contingency plans.
Some of the suitors describe Penelope as “tricksy” (there was that thing with the burial shroud for Laertes) and one of those tricks makes it easier for Odysseus, Telemachus and their tiny band when they carry out their massacre. Of course, the inevitable happens and soon they’re holed up at Laertes’s farm when the angry fathers turn up for revenge with mercenaries in tow.
All this time, Penelope is furious, about his distrust of her, and about the fate of some of her maids, so she’s denying Odysseus, never actually accepting that this man is he, referring to anything about her husband in the third person, which makes for some interesting conversations as she gets to comment on his twenty-year absence, and his poor behaviour, with some impunity.
It does take him some time to realise just how canny his wife is: “She was a woman alone, a widow in all but name, and Ithaca needed a strong king to guard its shores. This being so, naturally she would not turn away anyone who sought her hand, not least because if they were busy wooing, they would not be busy plundering, raiding or enslaving her peoples.”
There’s plenty of humour, especially when Laertes or Priene are participating: Priene tells Odysseus “Penelope is right – the isles need to have a king. You are the least awful choice. The one with the greatest story.” There’s also a bit of heartache when Penelope has to send the Egyptian packing, and her moving eulogy for one very close to her can’t fail to bring tears to the reader’s eye. And there are battles, with plenty of bloodshed despite some clever tactics.
This time, North uses the goddess Athena as her narrator who, with her emphasis on war and wisdom, offers quite a different perspective from that of Hera and Aphrodite. Odysseus may have been her favourite for a long time, but she’s coming to respect Penelope and see her intelligence and her worth.
North’s quick summary of the situation that many other poets describe is refreshingly frank, and quite delightful, at times almost tongue in cheek. Athena’s commentary on events and players, on the affairs of gods and mortals, is irreverent and often darkly funny, but also insightful. She observes: “Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked. Wisdom is rarely easy, too often an unwelcome guest.”
Even novices to the Greek myths and legends will be able to, with perhaps only a cursory check of Wikipedia, thoroughly enjoy North’s treatment of Penelope’s story. This is Greek myth at its most palatable and entertaining. Highly recommended!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK.
June 22, 2024
I adore Greek myth retellings when they’re done well. Circe and The Song of Achilles, Clytemnestra and Stone Blind, Ariadne and Elektra and Atalanta are all examples of excellent retellings, beautifully written. Stone Blind and Circe are even among some of my very favorite books. But North’s Songs of Penelope trilogy has usurped them all on my shelf. It’s rare that a mythic retelling is not a standalone novel. It’s rare that such a story can stay so true to its source material while also being wonderfully original. It’s rare that every book in a trilogy merits five full stars. Songs of Penelope manages to do all three of those things brilliantly. There is nothing that I would change about any of this trilogy, but I believe this final installment, The Last Song of Penelope, is my favorite. What a note to end on.
Each of these three books is told by a different goddess. Ithaca came from Hera’s perspective. House of Odysseus, from Aphrodite. In The Last Song of Penelope, we hear from the third of Olympus’s most prominent goddesses: Athena. (Artemis is also present throughout the series, but she has no interest in sitting still long enough to spin a tale.) Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom, and she sees that the gods of Greece will someday become obsolete. She is determined to be timeless where they are not, and she knows that the best way to achieve that is through a different kind of immortality, that guaranteed by a really good story. She will not be the star of this tale; she will be on the periphery, but that will be more than the rest of the pantheon achieves. It will be enough. It is for the crafting of this story that she has chosen to patron Odysseus and coax him through the twenty years he is away from Ithaca, first in Troy and then on his decade-long journey home. In this book, Odysseus is finally home. And, through the eyes of Athena, we witness all Hades break loose in the court of Penelope.
The triumph of Odysseus as we see it in The Odyssey is tragic here. We see a man storm in and wreck everything a woman has built, as if he has earned that destructive privilege simply by being a man. But here, that destructive force is a hero of the ages, one that millennia of readers and listeners have respected for his canniness: Odysseus. We know him as wise and clever, a man who always thinks through every step in a plan. And here, we see him lose his grip on that cleverness. In the wreckage, he and his furious, devastated wife must figure out how to repair the damage. Or, at least, how to survive it.
I love the character work in this series. Penelope, who has always been portrayed has nothing more than a faithful wife with just enough of her husband’s cleverness to outfox the suitors who plague her halls, is a woman of great depth here. We see her grow as the series progresses, as the layers of her character are slowly peeled back. And then there’s Odysseus. Because he is so intelligent and canny, we see him regain his grip on the cleverness that failed him in the heat of the moment. We see him learning from those mistakes and putting serious effort into cultivating empathy, as that’s what he needs to understand Penelope. His responses are so different from those of other men and kings in this land, in this time. At first, these differences are solely because he refuses to be like other men; he is better. But as the story continues, he begins to see himself and those around him — especially the women — differently, more clearly. He changes. He learns. He grows. I found both husband and wife incredibly believable and exquisitely rendered.
North’s writing is fantastic. Her prose in this series is as close to flawless as humanly possible. It’s brimming with humor and emotion while also being absolutely gorgeous. This series is excellent in physical and digital form, because it’s just a wonderful, timeless story, very well told. But it’s absolutely brilliant on audio. The Iliad and The Odyssey were the zenith of oral storytelling, and North has woven that kind of cadence into her unique retelling. Catrin Walker-Booth also just does a phenomenal job on the audio narration.
The elements I loved in the first two installments in the series carry through The Last Song of Penelope, as well. Besides the aforementioned character development and phenomenal craftsmanship to the writing itself, I just love how this series is set up. The pacing and setting are very well done. But one of the highlights for me is all of the gender politics, both ancient and modern, that is woven into the narrative. This is a very feminist series, but it never felt preachy or like it had an agenda. The point was to tell the stories of the women and goddesses on the periphery of such a famous story, and North was very successful in her aim.
I love everything about the Songs of Penelope trilogy. It’s a unique but timeless take on a story that has shaped storytelling for as far back as collective memory can recall. The entire trilogy is now shelved alongside my favorites. It’s a story I’ll be revisiting often, and I’ll think of it whenever The Iliad or The Odyssey are mentioned.
Each of these three books is told by a different goddess. Ithaca came from Hera’s perspective. House of Odysseus, from Aphrodite. In The Last Song of Penelope, we hear from the third of Olympus’s most prominent goddesses: Athena. (Artemis is also present throughout the series, but she has no interest in sitting still long enough to spin a tale.) Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom, and she sees that the gods of Greece will someday become obsolete. She is determined to be timeless where they are not, and she knows that the best way to achieve that is through a different kind of immortality, that guaranteed by a really good story. She will not be the star of this tale; she will be on the periphery, but that will be more than the rest of the pantheon achieves. It will be enough. It is for the crafting of this story that she has chosen to patron Odysseus and coax him through the twenty years he is away from Ithaca, first in Troy and then on his decade-long journey home. In this book, Odysseus is finally home. And, through the eyes of Athena, we witness all Hades break loose in the court of Penelope.
The triumph of Odysseus as we see it in The Odyssey is tragic here. We see a man storm in and wreck everything a woman has built, as if he has earned that destructive privilege simply by being a man. But here, that destructive force is a hero of the ages, one that millennia of readers and listeners have respected for his canniness: Odysseus. We know him as wise and clever, a man who always thinks through every step in a plan. And here, we see him lose his grip on that cleverness. In the wreckage, he and his furious, devastated wife must figure out how to repair the damage. Or, at least, how to survive it.
I love the character work in this series. Penelope, who has always been portrayed has nothing more than a faithful wife with just enough of her husband’s cleverness to outfox the suitors who plague her halls, is a woman of great depth here. We see her grow as the series progresses, as the layers of her character are slowly peeled back. And then there’s Odysseus. Because he is so intelligent and canny, we see him regain his grip on the cleverness that failed him in the heat of the moment. We see him learning from those mistakes and putting serious effort into cultivating empathy, as that’s what he needs to understand Penelope. His responses are so different from those of other men and kings in this land, in this time. At first, these differences are solely because he refuses to be like other men; he is better. But as the story continues, he begins to see himself and those around him — especially the women — differently, more clearly. He changes. He learns. He grows. I found both husband and wife incredibly believable and exquisitely rendered.
North’s writing is fantastic. Her prose in this series is as close to flawless as humanly possible. It’s brimming with humor and emotion while also being absolutely gorgeous. This series is excellent in physical and digital form, because it’s just a wonderful, timeless story, very well told. But it’s absolutely brilliant on audio. The Iliad and The Odyssey were the zenith of oral storytelling, and North has woven that kind of cadence into her unique retelling. Catrin Walker-Booth also just does a phenomenal job on the audio narration.
The elements I loved in the first two installments in the series carry through The Last Song of Penelope, as well. Besides the aforementioned character development and phenomenal craftsmanship to the writing itself, I just love how this series is set up. The pacing and setting are very well done. But one of the highlights for me is all of the gender politics, both ancient and modern, that is woven into the narrative. This is a very feminist series, but it never felt preachy or like it had an agenda. The point was to tell the stories of the women and goddesses on the periphery of such a famous story, and North was very successful in her aim.
I love everything about the Songs of Penelope trilogy. It’s a unique but timeless take on a story that has shaped storytelling for as far back as collective memory can recall. The entire trilogy is now shelved alongside my favorites. It’s a story I’ll be revisiting often, and I’ll think of it whenever The Iliad or The Odyssey are mentioned.
May 29, 2024
The final chapter of the Penelopiad and its been just as excellent as the first two. Claire North has managed a feminist retelling that has really told the possible story of the women in the Odysseus myth.
Penelope has been Queen of Ithaca for 20 years without her husband, Odysseus. She has managed the finances, outsmarted the suitors who told her that Odysseus was dead, she has (with her band of warrior women) beaten back raiders and those who would take her land. She is, in fact, more of a ruler than Odysseus had ever been (or had time to be what with the wars and the manliness etc).
And who comes here, into her Palace but a bedraggled beggar just wanting a crust from the table. Penelope is thankfully no fool and sees the badly disguised Odysseus for who he is immediately. However she also knows the situation needs handling with kid gloves. The suitors have been around for ten long years and their fathers are expecting one of them will be King of Ithaca at some point. They need appeasing. Telemachus, Odysseus' son) who came back from his travels with no news of his father needs his manhood protected and Odysseus needs to feel like the conquering hero. Penelope begins her softly softly approach to all these puzzles.
However Odysseus, being the conquering hero, decides on swift justice - the suitors are slaughtered, the faithless maids put to death and ... and then. Well then the trouble really begins.
The Last Song of Penelope is everything it's predecessors were. It is smart, funny, sympathetic and one of the best retellings I've read. Claire North has imbued Penelope with the perfect traits for any wife who has ruled without her husband for decades. And how else would you survive but on your wits and with your sisters to help.
I loved it. I loved the first two - Ithaca and House of Odysseus. I'd urge anyone even vaguely interested in Greek myth or just enjoys a really well written novel to read them. They are all extremely entertaining.
Thankyou so much to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the advance review copy. Very much appreciated.
Penelope has been Queen of Ithaca for 20 years without her husband, Odysseus. She has managed the finances, outsmarted the suitors who told her that Odysseus was dead, she has (with her band of warrior women) beaten back raiders and those who would take her land. She is, in fact, more of a ruler than Odysseus had ever been (or had time to be what with the wars and the manliness etc).
And who comes here, into her Palace but a bedraggled beggar just wanting a crust from the table. Penelope is thankfully no fool and sees the badly disguised Odysseus for who he is immediately. However she also knows the situation needs handling with kid gloves. The suitors have been around for ten long years and their fathers are expecting one of them will be King of Ithaca at some point. They need appeasing. Telemachus, Odysseus' son) who came back from his travels with no news of his father needs his manhood protected and Odysseus needs to feel like the conquering hero. Penelope begins her softly softly approach to all these puzzles.
However Odysseus, being the conquering hero, decides on swift justice - the suitors are slaughtered, the faithless maids put to death and ... and then. Well then the trouble really begins.
The Last Song of Penelope is everything it's predecessors were. It is smart, funny, sympathetic and one of the best retellings I've read. Claire North has imbued Penelope with the perfect traits for any wife who has ruled without her husband for decades. And how else would you survive but on your wits and with your sisters to help.
I loved it. I loved the first two - Ithaca and House of Odysseus. I'd urge anyone even vaguely interested in Greek myth or just enjoys a really well written novel to read them. They are all extremely entertaining.
Thankyou so much to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the advance review copy. Very much appreciated.
June 20, 2024
Perfection.
Want to read
October 1, 2023I NEED THIS TO COME OUT RIGHT NOW. also is it bad that i ship kenamon (or whatever his name is) with penelope? 😭 i just want them to be happy bro. i predict that this book will be narrated by athena (as the last of the three goddesses who “helped spark” the trojan war)
June 9, 2024
Sometimes the hardest book reviews to write are the ones for books you completely inhale body and soul because what can you say that compares to how much you loved the book? That’s how I’m feeling with The Last Song of Penelope, the final book in Claire North’s The Songs of Penelope series. A fresh and feminist twist on a classic tale, this is a brilliant read and definitely one of my favorites of the year.
Claire North is a gifted storyteller with a beautiful (and poetic at times) writing style that transported me into Penelope’s world on Ithaca. From the first pages where the island is so deftly personified that it becomes a character in itself, I was submersed in Penelope’s story. She’s an amazing and complex protagonist, wise, shrewd, and brave, and this series created such a layered and fully realized woman. This is not Odysseus’s wife. She is her own woman – a leader, a strategist, a mother, and a friend – which she proves time and again. There were times in the book when her story broke my heart and others when I physically cheered for her. She is a force, and she is not to be dismissed. At one point in the story it says, “Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked,” and I feel like this describes Penelope and her amazing council of women so well.
The series has been an in-depth character study of Penelope, but in this book, we also have a nuanced look at Odysseus. If you’ve ever read The Odyssey and remember Odysseus’s return home, you’ll be as captivated with The Last Song of Penelope as I was! It’s a fascinating character study of a deeply flawed man who has always been presented as a larger-than-life hero. While staying accurate to the original tale, we see a totally different, less glamorized version of the end of The Odyssey and after. North captures the vicious brutality of Odysseus and Telemachus, and it’s horrifying, as is what happens after.
I found Odysseus’s mess of thoughts throughout the novel to be illuminating. His feelings about the war, his time with other women, the loss of his crew and friends, and his ignorance of Ithaca and its inhabitants weigh heavily on him, and though he often acts rashly, he also acts with more patience and subservience than I ever expected. I love how his character changes and grows and learns to appreciate the people he continually disregarded and underappreciated. I also was so fascinated with Odysseus’s broken relationship with Penelope.
Unlike the original story, Odysseus’s reunion with his wife is less than amicable, and it’s no wonder. So much has happened over the twenty years Odysseus has been gone and in the time he���s been home, and many of his actions are unforgivable. The relationship between Penelope and Odysseus is stilted and complicated and hanging on by the thinnest thread in her loom. I’ve never read a story where their relationship was explored in such an intricate and layered manner, and we see it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
For much of the story, Penelope and Odysseus are distanced from each other, physically and emotionally, which is vastly different from the tales they both admit to spreading (he claims he’s desperate to get back to his only love, and she professes to be mourning the loss of the husband she misses when both are lies). It’s an interesting contrast and commentary on the unreliability of the spoken word, especially when tales are told over and over again, as they often change with the speaker. It’s also an immersive and hard look at a marriage in crisis and a couple fighting to maintain control, adjust to a new life after 20 years apart, and relearn to respect, depend on, and trust each other.
So the story is excellent, the characters are fascinating, and the writing is brilliant. But on top of that, this is the kind of book that really makes you think. There are so many thought-provoking scenes that shine light on issues like toxic masculinity, gender stereotypes and roles, masculinity vs femininity, marriage, love and loss, grief, and so much more. It’s the kind of read that sits with you and stays with you long after you finish it. And a special shout-out to Laertes for being a bright spot in an often dark story.
A massive amount of thanks to Orbit Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.
Claire North is a gifted storyteller with a beautiful (and poetic at times) writing style that transported me into Penelope’s world on Ithaca. From the first pages where the island is so deftly personified that it becomes a character in itself, I was submersed in Penelope’s story. She’s an amazing and complex protagonist, wise, shrewd, and brave, and this series created such a layered and fully realized woman. This is not Odysseus’s wife. She is her own woman – a leader, a strategist, a mother, and a friend – which she proves time and again. There were times in the book when her story broke my heart and others when I physically cheered for her. She is a force, and she is not to be dismissed. At one point in the story it says, “Wisdom is not loud, is often unseen, unpraised, unremarked,” and I feel like this describes Penelope and her amazing council of women so well.
The series has been an in-depth character study of Penelope, but in this book, we also have a nuanced look at Odysseus. If you’ve ever read The Odyssey and remember Odysseus’s return home, you’ll be as captivated with The Last Song of Penelope as I was! It’s a fascinating character study of a deeply flawed man who has always been presented as a larger-than-life hero. While staying accurate to the original tale, we see a totally different, less glamorized version of the end of The Odyssey and after. North captures the vicious brutality of Odysseus and Telemachus, and it’s horrifying, as is what happens after.
I found Odysseus’s mess of thoughts throughout the novel to be illuminating. His feelings about the war, his time with other women, the loss of his crew and friends, and his ignorance of Ithaca and its inhabitants weigh heavily on him, and though he often acts rashly, he also acts with more patience and subservience than I ever expected. I love how his character changes and grows and learns to appreciate the people he continually disregarded and underappreciated. I also was so fascinated with Odysseus’s broken relationship with Penelope.
Unlike the original story, Odysseus’s reunion with his wife is less than amicable, and it’s no wonder. So much has happened over the twenty years Odysseus has been gone and in the time he���s been home, and many of his actions are unforgivable. The relationship between Penelope and Odysseus is stilted and complicated and hanging on by the thinnest thread in her loom. I’ve never read a story where their relationship was explored in such an intricate and layered manner, and we see it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
For much of the story, Penelope and Odysseus are distanced from each other, physically and emotionally, which is vastly different from the tales they both admit to spreading (he claims he’s desperate to get back to his only love, and she professes to be mourning the loss of the husband she misses when both are lies). It’s an interesting contrast and commentary on the unreliability of the spoken word, especially when tales are told over and over again, as they often change with the speaker. It’s also an immersive and hard look at a marriage in crisis and a couple fighting to maintain control, adjust to a new life after 20 years apart, and relearn to respect, depend on, and trust each other.
So the story is excellent, the characters are fascinating, and the writing is brilliant. But on top of that, this is the kind of book that really makes you think. There are so many thought-provoking scenes that shine light on issues like toxic masculinity, gender stereotypes and roles, masculinity vs femininity, marriage, love and loss, grief, and so much more. It’s the kind of read that sits with you and stays with you long after you finish it. And a special shout-out to Laertes for being a bright spot in an often dark story.
A massive amount of thanks to Orbit Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.
June 30, 2024
This has been a truly enjoyable series to read and this finale lived up to my expectations - that last 10% was pretty great and kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.
The novel this time is told through Athena's point of view, and details how Penelope dealt with the return of her husband Odysseus. After lots of brutal murders and fighting, the two have to team up to ensure they continue to reign over their island. The character of their son Telemachus was extremely irritating and very well written to be like that after the last two novels. I felt very sad for Kenamon and how his story ended but I'm glad he left before the drama started.
Each novel in this trilogy was narrated by a different goddess but the authors sense of humour shined through them all and the way women were depicted was epic through them all.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to Netgalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, and the author.
The novel this time is told through Athena's point of view, and details how Penelope dealt with the return of her husband Odysseus. After lots of brutal murders and fighting, the two have to team up to ensure they continue to reign over their island. The character of their son Telemachus was extremely irritating and very well written to be like that after the last two novels. I felt very sad for Kenamon and how his story ended but I'm glad he left before the drama started.
Each novel in this trilogy was narrated by a different goddess but the authors sense of humour shined through them all and the way women were depicted was epic through them all.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to Netgalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, and the author.
June 23, 2024
“Nothing, I howl to the stars and sun, to the endless night and cruel breaking day. There is nothing so dangerous as the need to be loved, as the desire to be seen, to be held, to be known in all your failings and loved despite them all. Nothing as heart-cracking, as soul-sheering, as to love and be loved and be seen to laugh and seen to weep and known to be afraid and so away with it, let it be gone! It is cruel to be wise, and yet still to yearn”
Athena and her narration as a woman who is constantly repressing and is unable to properly express what she feels was so special to me actually.
The writing staying consistently beautiful - that scene with Penelope and Kenamon in the garden was so vividly described I could picture it so clearly and it had me welling up hard.
Marks the first time I’ve given a full trilogy five stars which is an achievement and a half given how steengy I am at giving them out. But much like when Craig Revel Horwood does it, you know when the full marks are given it means it was REALLY worth it.
Athena and her narration as a woman who is constantly repressing and is unable to properly express what she feels was so special to me actually.
The writing staying consistently beautiful - that scene with Penelope and Kenamon in the garden was so vividly described I could picture it so clearly and it had me welling up hard.
Marks the first time I’ve given a full trilogy five stars which is an achievement and a half given how steengy I am at giving them out. But much like when Craig Revel Horwood does it, you know when the full marks are given it means it was REALLY worth it.
March 30, 2024
The Last Song of Penelope is the final installment in Claire North's The Songs Of Penelope trilogy. It tells the story of Odysseus' return to Ithaca and how he, disguised as an old begger, spies upon Penelope and the suitors to uncover any wrong doings of his wife's in his absence.
Full of anger and without the full story, Odysseus lashes out at the suitors, and Penelope's maids, insighting a revenge-fueled war. Odysseus has survived twenty years of war, tragedy, and the wrath of the gods, but can he survive the vengeance sought by the family of those he killed?
Thank you #NetGalley, Redhook Books, and the Author Claire North for an advanced readers copy of The Last Song of Penelope in exchange for an honest review. I LOVED the first two books, so i might have screamed a little in excitement when I got approved! If you love mythology retellings and a feminist perspective, then this is the book for you! Put its release date of June 4th, 2024, on your calendars!
Full of anger and without the full story, Odysseus lashes out at the suitors, and Penelope's maids, insighting a revenge-fueled war. Odysseus has survived twenty years of war, tragedy, and the wrath of the gods, but can he survive the vengeance sought by the family of those he killed?
Thank you #NetGalley, Redhook Books, and the Author Claire North for an advanced readers copy of The Last Song of Penelope in exchange for an honest review. I LOVED the first two books, so i might have screamed a little in excitement when I got approved! If you love mythology retellings and a feminist perspective, then this is the book for you! Put its release date of June 4th, 2024, on your calendars!
June 11, 2024
"I will fight for the women. I will fight for the maids. I will fight ... in some way ... to keep them safe. Even if that means," a scowl of displeasure about her lips, "fighting to defend some ... Greek king. If it needs a man on the throne to keep them safe, even a man like Odysseus, then ... they are what matter." [loc. 2159]
The culmination of the 'Songs of Penelope' trilogy, which began with Ithaca and continued with The House of Odysseus. In my review of the latter I wrote that I suspected the third book's narrator would be Athena, and so it is. Poor Athena. She's convinced that she will only be remembered because of Odysseus, whom she's championed lo these many years. 'A good story can outlast almost everything. And for that I need Odysseus.'
Finally his long journey home is complete, and he returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar -- a disguise which fools Penelope for about three seconds. She is not pleased by her husband's return, and even less happy when he and their son Telemachus dispatch the importunate suitors (pre-drugged by Penelope's maids) and then hang some of the maids for fraternisation. (I was dreading this scene, and am relieved that in North's version of the story, only three of the maids are killed. But three is more than enough.) Penelope's fury at her husband for overturning everything she's built in his absence, and for provoking all-out warfare by his slaughter of the guests in his house, is palpable. She wants him dead. And yet she knows that if her transformation of Ithaca comes to light, she and all the women who've worked with her to preserve her island will perish at the hands of men.
Odysseus is almost monstrous, and Telemachus is weak: but Odysseus is also legendarily clever, and he begins to realise that Penelope is the reason he has a home to return to, and that she is the de facto queen of Ithaca -- not because of her marriage to him, but because of what she has achieved. And, in the end, it's Penelope, her women, and her astute alliances that save the day.
The writing is superlative, the characterisation acutely observed, and the description of the muddy, bloody, haphazard nature of Bronze Age warfare seems more likely than the cinematic depictions (Troy) of glorious combat. Athena, too, is vividly depicted: another female fighting to be taken seriously, her existence constrained by the expectations and prejudices of the other Olympian gods. But Penelope is at the heart of this story, and it is her story. She's the one who decides how it should be told, and how her husband's reputation will be shaped by the poets. Because nobody must ever know what she has done.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK Publication Date is 18 JUN 2024.
June 28, 2024
When a ragged beggar shows up on the island of Ithaca, Penelope immediately recognizes him as her plotting husband who has been missing the last 20 years. As Odysseus is busy making his plans against the suitors in his palace, he is also trying to decide whether his queen has been faithful. How far does he want to take his revenge? Penelope tries to stay a few steps ahead and help Odysseus carry out his plan without him realizing just how strategic his wife has become.
Most of us are very familiar with the heroic tales of Odysseus, but less is written about his queen who is left to fend for herself amongst the suitors with a dwindling treasury. In the world of Greek Mythology women are usually at the mercy of men, afraid of rape or even to just exist too loudly amongst them. What I love about this trilogy is the quiet strength the women possess. Penelope knows just how to lead while pretending that she isn't in control at all (because we must not bruise the delicate male egos of Ancient Greece). As the island doesn't contain many men of fighting age, it's up to the women to keep everything running and to defend Ithaca from outside forces. This last book in the Songs of Penelope Trilogy gives us the return of the mighty Odysseus - and yet he's really not so heroic. It still comes down to the women to save Ithaca from some rash actions. Each book is written from the viewpoint of a Goddess, and this installment is by Athena who is the perfect final narrator.
The characters are very complex and well-written. Penelope and Odysseus especially have so much depth - they're so different than the wife pining for her wise and heroic husband to return. Instead we have a capable queen who has ruled Ithaca longer than the king has, and he comes in without a well-thought-out plan and destroys her carefully crafted peace. I love the various feminist voices, the Egyptian suitor, and the scraggly, old Laertes. Telemachus is definitely the most annoying character here, and I know he is written that way on purpose, but there are lots of cringeworthy moments. There is a bit of humor amongst the bloodshed and scheming. I love the fact that Penelope refuses to acknowledge Odysseus as her actual husband for a majority of the book, as this allows her to verbally criticize him, repeatedly, without retribution. All in all, this was a great ending in the tale.
I recommend this book to all who love Greek Mythology and female-driven narratives. There are battles and death and mentions of rape. Although I highly recommend starting with the first book in the trilogy, I also think you could jump right in, especially if you're familiar with The Iliad and The Odyssey. I look forward to reading more from Claire North! I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and Redhook books for my opinions.
4.5 Rounded up
Most of us are very familiar with the heroic tales of Odysseus, but less is written about his queen who is left to fend for herself amongst the suitors with a dwindling treasury. In the world of Greek Mythology women are usually at the mercy of men, afraid of rape or even to just exist too loudly amongst them. What I love about this trilogy is the quiet strength the women possess. Penelope knows just how to lead while pretending that she isn't in control at all (because we must not bruise the delicate male egos of Ancient Greece). As the island doesn't contain many men of fighting age, it's up to the women to keep everything running and to defend Ithaca from outside forces. This last book in the Songs of Penelope Trilogy gives us the return of the mighty Odysseus - and yet he's really not so heroic. It still comes down to the women to save Ithaca from some rash actions. Each book is written from the viewpoint of a Goddess, and this installment is by Athena who is the perfect final narrator.
The characters are very complex and well-written. Penelope and Odysseus especially have so much depth - they're so different than the wife pining for her wise and heroic husband to return. Instead we have a capable queen who has ruled Ithaca longer than the king has, and he comes in without a well-thought-out plan and destroys her carefully crafted peace. I love the various feminist voices, the Egyptian suitor, and the scraggly, old Laertes. Telemachus is definitely the most annoying character here, and I know he is written that way on purpose, but there are lots of cringeworthy moments. There is a bit of humor amongst the bloodshed and scheming. I love the fact that Penelope refuses to acknowledge Odysseus as her actual husband for a majority of the book, as this allows her to verbally criticize him, repeatedly, without retribution. All in all, this was a great ending in the tale.
I recommend this book to all who love Greek Mythology and female-driven narratives. There are battles and death and mentions of rape. Although I highly recommend starting with the first book in the trilogy, I also think you could jump right in, especially if you're familiar with The Iliad and The Odyssey. I look forward to reading more from Claire North! I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and Redhook books for my opinions.
4.5 Rounded up
April 17, 2024
I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let me preface this by saying I have not read the previous two books in this series, but from what I read, it does well as a standalone so I decided to try it.
I enjoyed this, but perhaps not as much as I would have had I read the other books. There’s background I sense I missed, characters I would’ve appreciated more, and plot lines I would’ve understood a bit more in depth. For that reason, I do recommend reading the others first, but it truly isn’t necessary for the story.
The plot line is… well… I mean this is a retelling so it’s pretty true to Odysseus’s life as written in the epics. It was well done and lyrical, told from Athena’s POV. I personally thought the beginning was a bit slow for my liking (again, the issue of not reading the other two first), but the second half was interesting and had me wanting to continue. It took me over a week to read the first half, but two days for the second. The characters are interesting and cunning, but with the omniscient Athena, little is hidden from the reader. Men are generally trash in this book, but it is set in Ancient Greece so that is unsurprising. The writing is lyrical and poetic, but is part of the reason the book drug so much for me. I normally don’t mind writing like this, but for whatever reason, it didn’t do it for me like it usually does. I can appreciate a slow build, but I definitely struggled with this one.
All in all, I’ll give this a 3.25⭐️ with the allowance I likely would’ve enjoyed this much more after reading the series. If I do read the other two books, I may revisit and update my rating, but as a standalone, it wasn’t what I hoped it would be.
Let me preface this by saying I have not read the previous two books in this series, but from what I read, it does well as a standalone so I decided to try it.
I enjoyed this, but perhaps not as much as I would have had I read the other books. There’s background I sense I missed, characters I would’ve appreciated more, and plot lines I would’ve understood a bit more in depth. For that reason, I do recommend reading the others first, but it truly isn’t necessary for the story.
The plot line is… well… I mean this is a retelling so it’s pretty true to Odysseus’s life as written in the epics. It was well done and lyrical, told from Athena’s POV. I personally thought the beginning was a bit slow for my liking (again, the issue of not reading the other two first), but the second half was interesting and had me wanting to continue. It took me over a week to read the first half, but two days for the second. The characters are interesting and cunning, but with the omniscient Athena, little is hidden from the reader. Men are generally trash in this book, but it is set in Ancient Greece so that is unsurprising. The writing is lyrical and poetic, but is part of the reason the book drug so much for me. I normally don’t mind writing like this, but for whatever reason, it didn’t do it for me like it usually does. I can appreciate a slow build, but I definitely struggled with this one.
All in all, I’ll give this a 3.25⭐️ with the allowance I likely would’ve enjoyed this much more after reading the series. If I do read the other two books, I may revisit and update my rating, but as a standalone, it wasn’t what I hoped it would be.
June 23, 2024
Look, I’ll just come right out and say it. Claire North’s Songs of Penelope trilogy is the ONLY Greek mythology retelling you need to read. I’ve previously posted about each of the first two books, which give us a detailed account of what was going on in Ithaca during the years Odysseus spent journeying home. When The Last Song of Penelope begins, Odysseus has finally arrived back on his home shores, and bloody mayhem ensues.
In the original source material, the climax of the story takes place when Odysseus wins the archery competition Penelope has set with a prize of earning her hand in marriage, then reveals his identity to everyone and slays the suitors who have exploited his wife’s hospitality and dishonored his halls. That happens around the middle of this book. What unfolds in the second half is a powerful reckoning with the consequences of his actions. In the hands of a less capable writer, it would be extremely easy to make him appear to be either a stock villain or a glorified antihero, but Claire North gives us an Odysseus who is neither, but feels more human than any other depiction I’ve encountered in any form of media. Without revealing too much about the plot, I’ll just say that it’s a truly satisfying conclusion to a series that is heads and shoulders above anything else in the genre.
But true to its title, this isn’t a book about Odysseus. It’s an ode to Penelope, to the maids who helped her keep Ithaca standing for twenty years, to the silent labor of women who do what must be done and have no songs sung about their heroic feats. Watching Penelope’s journey unfold over these three books has been a privilege and a delight. I can’t recommend this trilogy enough.
In the original source material, the climax of the story takes place when Odysseus wins the archery competition Penelope has set with a prize of earning her hand in marriage, then reveals his identity to everyone and slays the suitors who have exploited his wife’s hospitality and dishonored his halls. That happens around the middle of this book. What unfolds in the second half is a powerful reckoning with the consequences of his actions. In the hands of a less capable writer, it would be extremely easy to make him appear to be either a stock villain or a glorified antihero, but Claire North gives us an Odysseus who is neither, but feels more human than any other depiction I’ve encountered in any form of media. Without revealing too much about the plot, I’ll just say that it’s a truly satisfying conclusion to a series that is heads and shoulders above anything else in the genre.
But true to its title, this isn’t a book about Odysseus. It’s an ode to Penelope, to the maids who helped her keep Ithaca standing for twenty years, to the silent labor of women who do what must be done and have no songs sung about their heroic feats. Watching Penelope’s journey unfold over these three books has been a privilege and a delight. I can’t recommend this trilogy enough.
July 8, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"When the sea has taken everything else away, the only thing that remains is a man who wills himself to live. No soul of note. No character worth any mention. Just flesh, hanging on"
A very satisfying conclusion to the Songs of Penelope trilogy, and, in my opinion, by far the best of the three books - a 3.5 stars to the solid 3 I gave "House of Odysseus", though I'm still compelled to round the rating down for the purposes of Goodreads - I might have considered rounding up had it not been for the underwhelming, though very Greek Deus ex machina ending I could see coming from miles. As expected, Athena is the narrator of this final installment, and though I still wish Hera had remained the sole narrator, I cannot begrudge Claire North's choice here (though I still could have done without Aphrodite as a narrator).
There is a subtle improvement in North's prose here too - The Last Song of Penelope is still peppered with certain somewhat jarring patterns of speech, but to a much lesser degree, and it doesn't detract from the overall gravity of the novel.
Another thing I didn't necessarily appreciate is that Odysseus's character was somewhat lackluster, at times even meek - my view of him is still somewhat shaped by Atwood's Penelopiad, and I did not expect him to yield to the feminine power of Penelope and the maids quite so easily - though I respect that this novel's focal point is markedly different, and accept his characterization insofar as it served the narrative, and highlighted Penelope's cunning, her authority. That being said, I'm still not a fan of the overarching theme in modern myth retellings of making the men lesser so the women might shine - an opportunity was lost there, I feel, of letting those two characters play off of each other, instead of one overshadowing the other so clearly.
"When the sea has taken everything else away, the only thing that remains is a man who wills himself to live. No soul of note. No character worth any mention. Just flesh, hanging on"
A very satisfying conclusion to the Songs of Penelope trilogy, and, in my opinion, by far the best of the three books - a 3.5 stars to the solid 3 I gave "House of Odysseus", though I'm still compelled to round the rating down for the purposes of Goodreads - I might have considered rounding up had it not been for the underwhelming, though very Greek Deus ex machina ending I could see coming from miles. As expected, Athena is the narrator of this final installment, and though I still wish Hera had remained the sole narrator, I cannot begrudge Claire North's choice here (though I still could have done without Aphrodite as a narrator).
There is a subtle improvement in North's prose here too - The Last Song of Penelope is still peppered with certain somewhat jarring patterns of speech, but to a much lesser degree, and it doesn't detract from the overall gravity of the novel.
Another thing I didn't necessarily appreciate is that Odysseus's character was somewhat lackluster, at times even meek - my view of him is still somewhat shaped by Atwood's Penelopiad, and I did not expect him to yield to the feminine power of Penelope and the maids quite so easily - though I respect that this novel's focal point is markedly different, and accept his characterization insofar as it served the narrative, and highlighted Penelope's cunning, her authority. That being said, I'm still not a fan of the overarching theme in modern myth retellings of making the men lesser so the women might shine - an opportunity was lost there, I feel, of letting those two characters play off of each other, instead of one overshadowing the other so clearly.
May 31, 2024
Thank you to orbit for a final copy of this book.
First off, I have been eerily awaiting to see how this book series was going to end and how it was going to tie back into the original myth because Claire does such a fantastic job of both sticking to the original myth but also adding her own twists and flair to the woman's stories.
I am very happy to say I absolutely adored how she took Penelope's story and made it far more in depth and interesting than the Odyssey actually made it. One thing I really loved about this book was how it was told from a goddess's point of view and as if she was the one helping to write the story or write the song that would eventually be sung.
There were a lot of amazing parts in this book and there are just too many to list, mostly because some of them are just better read. I honestly really don't know what else to say because this book left me with a lot of feelings and emotions and this is definitely one I think I would love to reread and annotate. Actually, I would love to do that to the whole series because I feel like there's messaging in this book that is done both subtly and very well that sometimes you can miss if you're not paying attention.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Greek mythology and feels that the woman in these stories were mistreated or misunderstood and should have had larger parts to play.
First off, I have been eerily awaiting to see how this book series was going to end and how it was going to tie back into the original myth because Claire does such a fantastic job of both sticking to the original myth but also adding her own twists and flair to the woman's stories.
I am very happy to say I absolutely adored how she took Penelope's story and made it far more in depth and interesting than the Odyssey actually made it. One thing I really loved about this book was how it was told from a goddess's point of view and as if she was the one helping to write the story or write the song that would eventually be sung.
There were a lot of amazing parts in this book and there are just too many to list, mostly because some of them are just better read. I honestly really don't know what else to say because this book left me with a lot of feelings and emotions and this is definitely one I think I would love to reread and annotate. Actually, I would love to do that to the whole series because I feel like there's messaging in this book that is done both subtly and very well that sometimes you can miss if you're not paying attention.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Greek mythology and feels that the woman in these stories were mistreated or misunderstood and should have had larger parts to play.
June 10, 2024
I had thought the second book in this series, House of Odysseus, was the last book. The series is about the women of Ithaca surviving for twenty years after Odysseus left, and the book ends with Odysseus washing up on the shore of Ithaca. That might have been a reasonable point to end it.
Claire North wasn't done. She wanted to dive into the story of Odysseus reclaiming his kingdom, slaughtering the suitors, and triumphing over his enemies who would have usurped his role.
But wait, that's not entirely what happens, even though that's the legend we know. Once again North tells us the story behind the story, how the women attempt to survive and overcome Odysseus's massive mistakes. And it tells the story about the notoriously wiliest man in ancient Greece, and how he might, just might, come to break out of the macho constraints that bind his behavior.
It's a heartbreaking story, but a compelling one. As narrated by the goddess Athena who has mixed feelings about her 'favorite', Odysseus, it allows the author both an omniscient viewpoint on all characters but also a more distanced one, giving us a unique view into the legend that we think we know, but really have no idea what really happened. North's telling seems more realistic than most of what is told in the Odyssey.
Claire North wasn't done. She wanted to dive into the story of Odysseus reclaiming his kingdom, slaughtering the suitors, and triumphing over his enemies who would have usurped his role.
But wait, that's not entirely what happens, even though that's the legend we know. Once again North tells us the story behind the story, how the women attempt to survive and overcome Odysseus's massive mistakes. And it tells the story about the notoriously wiliest man in ancient Greece, and how he might, just might, come to break out of the macho constraints that bind his behavior.
It's a heartbreaking story, but a compelling one. As narrated by the goddess Athena who has mixed feelings about her 'favorite', Odysseus, it allows the author both an omniscient viewpoint on all characters but also a more distanced one, giving us a unique view into the legend that we think we know, but really have no idea what really happened. North's telling seems more realistic than most of what is told in the Odyssey.
June 2, 2024
I’ve always had a soft spot in Greek mythology. I binge read through this entire series within a week, which is why I was so happy I got a chance to read the final installment as an arc.
What I enjoyed most about Claire North’s retellings is that they’re all done in a perspective that we didn’t grow up learning in high school, which is from a female’s perspective. The first two books follow Penelope while her husband, Odysseus is away for war. This final book is when he’s finally back and Penelope begins to anticipate and deal with her fate.
The Last Song of Penelope, while beautifully written, didn’t compare to the previous books. Overall, I loved the complexity that’s added to the original story. Recommending anyone who’s also had an interest in Greek mythology.
What I enjoyed most about Claire North’s retellings is that they’re all done in a perspective that we didn’t grow up learning in high school, which is from a female’s perspective. The first two books follow Penelope while her husband, Odysseus is away for war. This final book is when he’s finally back and Penelope begins to anticipate and deal with her fate.
The Last Song of Penelope, while beautifully written, didn’t compare to the previous books. Overall, I loved the complexity that’s added to the original story. Recommending anyone who’s also had an interest in Greek mythology.
June 5, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC.
As someone whose introduction to Greek Mythology came through The Odyssey, this book brought me so much joy. It was a story I knew told from a perspective I have been really enjoying from Claire North these past couple of books. This trilogy has given me so much insight into the gaping whole left behind during a male-centred myth, how Ithaca still stood for the 20 years its king was gone.
The Last Song of Penelope was beautifully written and the narration from Athena’s perspective was particularly interesting, reading her feelings towards Penelope and Odysseus and even Artemis to an extent.
I really loved seeing how Penelope and Odysseus’s estranged marriage was drawn back together, how they unravelled what had happened to each of them during the two decades apart, how Odysseus underestimated his wife and how Penelope taught him the true value of women beyond what he saw them for.
I am truly sad to see this trilogy come to an end but I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!
As someone whose introduction to Greek Mythology came through The Odyssey, this book brought me so much joy. It was a story I knew told from a perspective I have been really enjoying from Claire North these past couple of books. This trilogy has given me so much insight into the gaping whole left behind during a male-centred myth, how Ithaca still stood for the 20 years its king was gone.
The Last Song of Penelope was beautifully written and the narration from Athena’s perspective was particularly interesting, reading her feelings towards Penelope and Odysseus and even Artemis to an extent.
I really loved seeing how Penelope and Odysseus’s estranged marriage was drawn back together, how they unravelled what had happened to each of them during the two decades apart, how Odysseus underestimated his wife and how Penelope taught him the true value of women beyond what he saw them for.
I am truly sad to see this trilogy come to an end but I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!
June 23, 2024
The final book in Claire North's retelling of the Odyssey tale, this time spinning the tale from the point of view of Penelope and Athena among others. Odysseus return, the slaughter of the Suitors comes in the first 3rd of the book, North brilliantly writes Penelope as conflicted by the return. If you enjoyed Circe by Madeline Miller, this trilogy is for you.
June 22, 2024
"No poets sing the songs of slaves. It would be extraordinary dangerous to give voices to the less-than-people of this world, lest it turn out they were people after all."
A fantastic conclusion to this trilogy!
A fantastic conclusion to this trilogy!
July 8, 2024
nothing happy happened this entire book and that's fine but it was just not fun
June 24, 2024
Honestly, I didn't love this one.
Fair point, I haven't had the best week. As someone who loves the Odyssey, I get where this came from and why it had to be done this way, but it just wasn't my favorite thing.
Yes, Odysseus was a cheating ass sometimes as he made his way back home, but did we have to make him into such an anti-hero/villain type?
I like having Penelope and Odysseus love each other beyond a gritted-teeth tolerance. I like having a romantic end to an epic story.
The story of the battle with the suitors' families is underrepresented in fiction. But it's also not exactly the most interesting bit of Odysseus's story.
The siege at Laertes's farm can kind of drag a bit. And I wasn't wild about the resolution. Maybe I'm just in a mood, but this one fell a little flat for me.
Fair point, I haven't had the best week. As someone who loves the Odyssey, I get where this came from and why it had to be done this way, but it just wasn't my favorite thing.
Yes, Odysseus was a cheating ass sometimes as he made his way back home, but did we have to make him into such an anti-hero/villain type?
I like having Penelope and Odysseus love each other beyond a gritted-teeth tolerance. I like having a romantic end to an epic story.
The story of the battle with the suitors' families is underrepresented in fiction. But it's also not exactly the most interesting bit of Odysseus's story.
The siege at Laertes's farm can kind of drag a bit. And I wasn't wild about the resolution. Maybe I'm just in a mood, but this one fell a little flat for me.
May 6, 2024
“Listen closely, for this is the only time I will tell it. / A whispered secret, a hidden tale - this is the story of what actually happened when Odysseus returned to Ithaca.”
This entire trilogy has kept me enthralled for three years, and while I’m sad to know there won’t be another in the series, I know I’ll have a great time rereading these books! As always, the narration—done this time by Athena—was fantastic and gave a nuanced view of one of the most (undeservedly) hated-on goddesses. Penelope was the same cunning queen we saw in the previous books, but with a very different set of challenges, and Odysseus was such an interesting, complex character that was still distinct from other retellings’ versions of him (and I loved his groveling 😈). There was less interaction between the gods in this book, but much more from secondary characters—and yes, I spent so much time convincing myself Penelope’s maids would be fine when I should’ve been preparing myself, but that scene was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever read and it was FANTASTIC!
(Also, Claire North did the whole “who tells this story this way for what reasons” theme better than every other author in this genre—just in her first two chapters, no less—and I will die on that hill!)
Thank you to Redhook for sending me an early copy of this!!!
This entire trilogy has kept me enthralled for three years, and while I’m sad to know there won’t be another in the series, I know I’ll have a great time rereading these books! As always, the narration—done this time by Athena—was fantastic and gave a nuanced view of one of the most (undeservedly) hated-on goddesses. Penelope was the same cunning queen we saw in the previous books, but with a very different set of challenges, and Odysseus was such an interesting, complex character that was still distinct from other retellings’ versions of him (and I loved his groveling 😈). There was less interaction between the gods in this book, but much more from secondary characters—and yes, I spent so much time convincing myself Penelope’s maids would be fine when I should’ve been preparing myself, but that scene was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever read and it was FANTASTIC!
(Also, Claire North did the whole “who tells this story this way for what reasons” theme better than every other author in this genre—just in her first two chapters, no less—and I will die on that hill!)
Thank you to Redhook for sending me an early copy of this!!!
July 4, 2024
3.5⭐️
I was very excited about this book, having just finished House of Odysseus a day before. (Very thankful for the timing of getting this arc). I loved the last book, and I was expecting to love this one as well. That didn't quite turn out to be the case.
This felt remarkably different than the previous two books which I believe was entirely due to the narrator. Following the trend of the earlier books, The Last Song of Penelope is narrated by a goddess. Whereas previously the books were narrated by Hera and Aphrodite respectively, goddesses who have a more female-centric worship base and focus, Athena is a goddess of war and wisdom which in this book at least seems to care more about the men, particularly the kind of men poets write stories about. (Hence, Odysseus, and this very much focused on him as well. I thought it was an interesting depiction.) Athena spends a good part of the book repeating the same notions: that she is cold and rational, has removed all tenderness and love from her heart to protect herself, and essentially aspires to be one of the boys among Olympus and for the men to respect her. But nothing she ever does gets them to respect her so she somewhat regrets doing that to herself....The point is that I understand the purpose of Athena's role in this book, but I just didn't like Athena at all, which affected my enjoyment of this book.
Despite all that, I did enjoy most of this book, just not nearly as much as I expected (or as much as the previous book). I liked how neither Penelope nor Odysseus knew quite what to do with the other half the time, or react the way they thought they would after twenty years. I'd forgotten some things regarding the story/myth aspect of Odysseus's return so I was quite surprised and even shocked a few times.
Overall, I really liked this series and this is a nice conclusion to the exciting and compelling journey Claire North has written. I strongly recommend this to anyone who appreciates Greek mythology and especially retellings of these myths with a focus on the female characters.
I was very excited about this book, having just finished House of Odysseus a day before. (Very thankful for the timing of getting this arc). I loved the last book, and I was expecting to love this one as well. That didn't quite turn out to be the case.
This felt remarkably different than the previous two books which I believe was entirely due to the narrator. Following the trend of the earlier books, The Last Song of Penelope is narrated by a goddess. Whereas previously the books were narrated by Hera and Aphrodite respectively, goddesses who have a more female-centric worship base and focus, Athena is a goddess of war and wisdom which in this book at least seems to care more about the men, particularly the kind of men poets write stories about. (Hence, Odysseus, and this very much focused on him as well. I thought it was an interesting depiction.) Athena spends a good part of the book repeating the same notions: that she is cold and rational, has removed all tenderness and love from her heart to protect herself, and essentially aspires to be one of the boys among Olympus and for the men to respect her. But nothing she ever does gets them to respect her so she somewhat regrets doing that to herself....The point is that I understand the purpose of Athena's role in this book, but I just didn't like Athena at all, which affected my enjoyment of this book.
Despite all that, I did enjoy most of this book, just not nearly as much as I expected (or as much as the previous book). I liked how neither Penelope nor Odysseus knew quite what to do with the other half the time, or react the way they thought they would after twenty years. I'd forgotten some things regarding the story/myth aspect of Odysseus's return so I was quite surprised and even shocked a few times.
Overall, I really liked this series and this is a nice conclusion to the exciting and compelling journey Claire North has written. I strongly recommend this to anyone who appreciates Greek mythology and especially retellings of these myths with a focus on the female characters.
May 8, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this last instalment in the series and it is by far the best of the three. North’s Penelope is formidable and I absolutely loved it!
This is incredibly skilled storytelling. I love the tone, particularly in the beginning, where readers are introduced to the hidden voice and intellect of Penelope and the keen eye of Athena, who serves as narrator.
There is great nuance in the characterisation of such well known individuals. The relationship between Penelope and Odysseus is portrayed as complex and utterly compelling, and I enjoyed the way Telemachus was drawn: insufferably bratty but earning (very) brief, scattered moments of sympathy. I also really appreciate the depth in which North explored so many interesting ideas such as loyalty, womanhood, the patriarchy, and more. I could go on!!
I was most struck by the sympathy North creates from Athena to Penelope, as well as the goddesses occasional muted condemnation of Odysseus. Though this series is, ostensibly, about Penelope, it was so intriguing to consider alternate insights to Athena, too. There is also a humbling of Odysseus that was very compelling and emotive. Once again, the relationship between Penelope and Odysseus was rendered beautifully; it’s fascinating.
(I was also so relieved that Kenamon was saved from the slaughter.)
This is probably more accurately a 4-and-a-half star rating as some of the battle scenes were not as engaging, but I think that’s more because I found any scene where Penelope was absent a bit wanting, such was how perfectly she was drawn and interpreted here.
(I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Thank you, Hachette (and North), for the opportunity to read this).
This is incredibly skilled storytelling. I love the tone, particularly in the beginning, where readers are introduced to the hidden voice and intellect of Penelope and the keen eye of Athena, who serves as narrator.
There is great nuance in the characterisation of such well known individuals. The relationship between Penelope and Odysseus is portrayed as complex and utterly compelling, and I enjoyed the way Telemachus was drawn: insufferably bratty but earning (very) brief, scattered moments of sympathy. I also really appreciate the depth in which North explored so many interesting ideas such as loyalty, womanhood, the patriarchy, and more. I could go on!!
I was most struck by the sympathy North creates from Athena to Penelope, as well as the goddesses occasional muted condemnation of Odysseus. Though this series is, ostensibly, about Penelope, it was so intriguing to consider alternate insights to Athena, too. There is also a humbling of Odysseus that was very compelling and emotive. Once again, the relationship between Penelope and Odysseus was rendered beautifully; it’s fascinating.
(I was also so relieved that Kenamon was saved from the slaughter.)
This is probably more accurately a 4-and-a-half star rating as some of the battle scenes were not as engaging, but I think that’s more because I found any scene where Penelope was absent a bit wanting, such was how perfectly she was drawn and interpreted here.
(I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Thank you, Hachette (and North), for the opportunity to read this).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Orbit for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.
TW: murder, death, implied sexual assault and rape, misogyny, violence, hangings
Following the ending of the second book “House of Odysseus”, the story of Penelope on Ithaca leads to an incredible conclusion, this time narrated by the goddess Athena. Penelope has spent the past two decades fighting off pirates, family, rival kings and a household of suitors to keep her independence in a world that wants her to remarry and submit to the whims of men using only her wits. Odysseus has returned home after twenty years away- ten years at war with Troy and ten more attempting to get home- to a land that is nothing like he remembers. He disguises himself as a beggar with the aid of his son Telemachus, seeking to test whether his wife has remained faithful and a way to regain his kingdom. However, Penelope recognises him, but he isn’t the husband she barely knew- he wants violent revenge on the suitors who have taken up residence in his house, even if it leads to a civil war between the most powerful families in Ithaca. Athena is determined to weave Odysseus into legend as a hero and herself as his faithful patron, but the impulsive actions he takes- and the things Penelope does in secret with her army of women- can never be sung about. As Penelope and Odysseus are forced to work together, they realise that they don’t truly know each other and are surprised by what they see in the other. The return of Odysseus means the song of Penelope is ending because only one version of the story can be told, but neither of them is prepared for the war on Ithaca’s shores.
The “Ithaca” series is one of my all-time favourite Greek mythology retellings and this last part is utterly perfect, weaving together the same humour and drama found in the first two books but at a new level. I loved Athena’s narration almost as much as I did Hera’s and Aphrodite’s because she’s such a huge contradiction- she adores Odysseus to the point of love but she also struggles with the concept because of the wider implications of being recognised as a woman in a man’s world. She is the goddess of war and wisdom and such makes complicated decisions that often seem heartless. I’ve already spoken before about my love for the way that Claire North has written Penelope but here it reaches a new level, she is shown as conflicted about the return of her husband, glad he’s alive but also deeply reluctant to give up what she’s gained through her wits and cunning over twenty years. One of the absolute highlights is Odysseus’ perspective as he comes to realise who Penelope truly is, that she is just as clever and wise as he is but that she’s always had to do it in silence and the gradual rebuilding of a relationship that never really got to start. Even Athena, who has long preferred the husband, is forced to admit just how worthy and intelligent Penelope has been. The writing of these books is lyrical and descriptive, combining aspects of Homer’s original epics with ideas such as Penelope’s group of warrior women in the shadows. One thing that this series has done so well is reflecting on how gender roles in Ancient Greece apply to all, whether they’re human or gods; the experiences of Penelope and her maids are so similar to those of Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena. This was an epic undertaking and it all paid off, these are some of my favourite books.
TW: murder, death, implied sexual assault and rape, misogyny, violence, hangings
Following the ending of the second book “House of Odysseus”, the story of Penelope on Ithaca leads to an incredible conclusion, this time narrated by the goddess Athena. Penelope has spent the past two decades fighting off pirates, family, rival kings and a household of suitors to keep her independence in a world that wants her to remarry and submit to the whims of men using only her wits. Odysseus has returned home after twenty years away- ten years at war with Troy and ten more attempting to get home- to a land that is nothing like he remembers. He disguises himself as a beggar with the aid of his son Telemachus, seeking to test whether his wife has remained faithful and a way to regain his kingdom. However, Penelope recognises him, but he isn’t the husband she barely knew- he wants violent revenge on the suitors who have taken up residence in his house, even if it leads to a civil war between the most powerful families in Ithaca. Athena is determined to weave Odysseus into legend as a hero and herself as his faithful patron, but the impulsive actions he takes- and the things Penelope does in secret with her army of women- can never be sung about. As Penelope and Odysseus are forced to work together, they realise that they don’t truly know each other and are surprised by what they see in the other. The return of Odysseus means the song of Penelope is ending because only one version of the story can be told, but neither of them is prepared for the war on Ithaca’s shores.
The “Ithaca” series is one of my all-time favourite Greek mythology retellings and this last part is utterly perfect, weaving together the same humour and drama found in the first two books but at a new level. I loved Athena’s narration almost as much as I did Hera’s and Aphrodite’s because she’s such a huge contradiction- she adores Odysseus to the point of love but she also struggles with the concept because of the wider implications of being recognised as a woman in a man’s world. She is the goddess of war and wisdom and such makes complicated decisions that often seem heartless. I’ve already spoken before about my love for the way that Claire North has written Penelope but here it reaches a new level, she is shown as conflicted about the return of her husband, glad he’s alive but also deeply reluctant to give up what she’s gained through her wits and cunning over twenty years. One of the absolute highlights is Odysseus’ perspective as he comes to realise who Penelope truly is, that she is just as clever and wise as he is but that she’s always had to do it in silence and the gradual rebuilding of a relationship that never really got to start. Even Athena, who has long preferred the husband, is forced to admit just how worthy and intelligent Penelope has been. The writing of these books is lyrical and descriptive, combining aspects of Homer’s original epics with ideas such as Penelope’s group of warrior women in the shadows. One thing that this series has done so well is reflecting on how gender roles in Ancient Greece apply to all, whether they’re human or gods; the experiences of Penelope and her maids are so similar to those of Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena. This was an epic undertaking and it all paid off, these are some of my favourite books.
June 2, 2024
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North is the historical fantasy conclusion to her Greek myth retelling of the story of Penelope from the POV of the three goddesses who competed for the golden apple. Last Song of Penelope is from the POV of Athena, the goddess who favored Odysseus and helped guide him back to Ithaca. We get glimpses into the POV of other characters as Odysseus reveals himself to his wife and kills her suitors as well as her maids.
What I really liked was how Claire North continued to show the complexity of each goddess’ POV with Athena. In a lot of spaces, we often question if Athena thought herself above her fellow women or if she was actually a feminist figure and North continues asking those questions. At times, it feels like she only truly cares about Odysseus and focuses her attention on the male figures in the story, but then she encourages Odysseus to have more equitable thinking when it comes to Penelope. Despite him not growing up witnessing a relationship with apologies, she encourages him to tell his wife that he is sorry for his actions, to bury his own pain until they solve the issue at hand. It’s extremely interesting to see this depiction of Athena and feels very much like it isn’t taking a side on whether she is pro-women or not, but is instead asking if, by her focusing on men that can learn to do the right thing, is she moving the needle forward towards equality?
Another thing that I thought was really cool was how Athena talked about the other gods and admitted where her own faults are. The theme of ‘love’ continues to come up with Athena constantly trying to bury it and drawing connections to her cohort and how love manifests for them. It helped create a connection to the story of Helen and Paris, Aphrodite and Hera who were POV characters before her, and to Penelope and Odysseus. The novel is not a love story and whether or not there are romantic feelings between Penelope and Odysseus is a complex question, but it’s a great question to ask when you have two characters who are loyal to each other but didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other.
Penelope was my favorite to see little glimpses of because we get to see how much effort she put into taking care of Ithaca and the POV of women in her culture. It’s sometimes hard to read as the situation could be quite grim for women back then, but Penelope’s strength and the strength of the women of Ithaca shines through.
I would recommend this to fans of the previous two books, readers looking for a Greek myth retelling focusing on Penelope, and those who are fans of Athena and want books from her POV.
The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North is the historical fantasy conclusion to her Greek myth retelling of the story of Penelope from the POV of the three goddesses who competed for the golden apple. Last Song of Penelope is from the POV of Athena, the goddess who favored Odysseus and helped guide him back to Ithaca. We get glimpses into the POV of other characters as Odysseus reveals himself to his wife and kills her suitors as well as her maids.
What I really liked was how Claire North continued to show the complexity of each goddess’ POV with Athena. In a lot of spaces, we often question if Athena thought herself above her fellow women or if she was actually a feminist figure and North continues asking those questions. At times, it feels like she only truly cares about Odysseus and focuses her attention on the male figures in the story, but then she encourages Odysseus to have more equitable thinking when it comes to Penelope. Despite him not growing up witnessing a relationship with apologies, she encourages him to tell his wife that he is sorry for his actions, to bury his own pain until they solve the issue at hand. It’s extremely interesting to see this depiction of Athena and feels very much like it isn’t taking a side on whether she is pro-women or not, but is instead asking if, by her focusing on men that can learn to do the right thing, is she moving the needle forward towards equality?
Another thing that I thought was really cool was how Athena talked about the other gods and admitted where her own faults are. The theme of ‘love’ continues to come up with Athena constantly trying to bury it and drawing connections to her cohort and how love manifests for them. It helped create a connection to the story of Helen and Paris, Aphrodite and Hera who were POV characters before her, and to Penelope and Odysseus. The novel is not a love story and whether or not there are romantic feelings between Penelope and Odysseus is a complex question, but it’s a great question to ask when you have two characters who are loyal to each other but didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other.
Penelope was my favorite to see little glimpses of because we get to see how much effort she put into taking care of Ithaca and the POV of women in her culture. It’s sometimes hard to read as the situation could be quite grim for women back then, but Penelope’s strength and the strength of the women of Ithaca shines through.
I would recommend this to fans of the previous two books, readers looking for a Greek myth retelling focusing on Penelope, and those who are fans of Athena and want books from her POV.
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