Last night, I was done reading Waiting for Odysseus and I was blown by Odysseus and Penelope’s love story and journey.
Am I a Greek Myth fanatic? No. Just familiar with some. Am I familiar with Odysseus and Penelope? No. I thought they are just side characters and if not for this book I wouldn’t know how great these characters are.
The retelling of Clemence McLaren is I think an ideal length to retell what happened during the time Odysseus was trying to come back home.
Here’s the teaser from the back cover: Four women. Four stories. One man’s journey. Odysseus. His epic tale has been told countless times, but rarely is it heard through the voices of the women who loved and served him. Penelope, Circe, Athena, Eurycleia: Theirs are the silent voices, the voices of longing, waiting, strength. They are the women who moved him and motivated him. And now they shed new light on his age-old journey.
It may seem short for some but her idea of retelling the story through the point of view of the women who are part of Odysseus’ life is a smooth combination of a feminist and an artist work. I would never give much attention to Greek Mythology until now.
The love, courage, acceptance and faith is eminent but it was the characterization of Odysseus and Penelope and their ability to rule that made me read as fast as I could. I just needed to know if the book will offer a happy ending. And it did, though some versions don’t. Luckily, the writer is also a bit of a romantic.
That last scene where Penelope needed to test her husband, just to be sure that it was him, made this two a power couple with the exception that they were not a god and a goddess.
I hope I can read another retelling of McLaren. And because of this I now want to try digging into the story of Circe.
I am rating this book 5 stars – UNFOLLOW ME IF YOU DON’T LIKE THIS BOOK.
Quoted from the Book:
We both knew that my destiny was to wait, to become expert at waiting.
I’d always known he would leave me to complete his journey. I’d thought his time with me would be an entertaining interlude, that I was too powerful to be hurt. I was wrong. Even as I laughed at mortals for their foolish attachments, I had succumbed to the same folly.
Like most humans, Helen blamed her catastrophic foolishness on us gods. It’s something we laugh about up on Olympus. True, we are able to make their lives miserable, but most times, people have their own actions to thank for their bad fortune.
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