Margaret Atwood's new novel is a reworking of the Odyssey, told largely from Penelope's point of view. The Penelopiad is presented by its publisher as a retelling of a myth, but it isn't quite that. The story of Odysseus' return home from the Trojan War would qualify as a myth, but the Odyssey does not, if a myth is a story that doesn't depend for its resonance and power on the details and language of any one version. The Penelopiad is written very precisely in response not to the myth of Odysseus, but to the Odyssey.

LRB 17 November 2005 | PDF Download