Beautifully written and compulsively readable. After Centuries of silence Penelope finally decides it is time to tell her side of the story. By turns both humorous and heartbreaking she describes her desperate attempts to avoid the numerous suitors seeking Odysseus's wealth through her hand in marriage. The twelve hanged maids function as a sort of Greek chorus, flushing out Penelope's narrative by offering their own insights. This story rounds out Homer's Odyssey in a way that is loyal to its Grecian roots and yet completely modern.

Margaret Atwood returns with a shrewd, funny, and insightful retelling of the myth of Odysseus from the point of view of Penelope. Describing her own remarkable vision, the author writes in the foreword, “I’ve chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn’t hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I’ve always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself.” One of the high points of literary fiction in 2005, this critically acclaimed story found a vast audience and is finally available in paperback.

Imprint: Canongate U.S.
Distributor: Perseus Distribution
Publication Date: 09-14-2006
Pages: 224
Measurements: 7.75in X 5.00in X 0.50lb