I really enjoyed this retelling of Penelope and Odysseus’s story. It was on the surface, a superficially quick read but underpinned by a confident narration and a refreshing and entirely different perspective.
Plot in a Nutshell
Some several thousand years after the events themselves, a long-dead Penelope reflects on her life. And perhaps most of all on her complicated relationship with her husband, Odysseus. From the vantage point of the afterlife she revisits the familiar landmarks of the myth. Her marriage, the long absence, the waiting in Ithaca, the stories told about what happened.
But Penelope is not simply recounting the tale as it is usually told. She offers her own version of events, her own interpretation of the characters, and occasionally her own doubts about the story itself. As she does so, the myth becomes something less fixed: a story shaped by memory, perspective and the unreliability that comes with the question of who gets to tell it.
Running alongside her narration are interjections from the twelve maids. These are the young women executed at the end of the original tale. Here they form a kind of chorus commenting on the events from their own vantage point in history.
Thoughts
I really enjoyed the sections of the novel that were written in Penelope’s first person voice. That she was reflecting some millennia after the facts of the story really worked for me. It gave the telling of the story a fresh yet reflective tone.The tone and depth are grounded in the fact she has had more than enough time to come to terms with her experiences.
That distance allows Penelope to speak with a kind of dry clarity about events that might otherwise feel melodramatic. She understands the myth that has grown up around her life, and she understands her own role inside it. That self-awareness gives the narration a steady, confident rhythm.
More than simply moving the plot along, this perspective also allows Atwood to say something about the nature of truth. Stories endure because they are repeated, reshaped and sometimes simplified. In Penelope’s retelling Atwood asks us If the myth we know is only one version of events, then who has the authority to decide what the “real” story was?
Lest this all sound really very deep the narration and characterisation were also surprisingly light and often times really witty which I had not expected and really did enjoy. Penelope’s insights into Odysseus’ character were pointed but affectionate. She recognises both his brilliance and his capacity for manipulation.
The two of us were – by our own admission – proficient and shameless liars of long standing. It’s a wonder either of us believed a word the other said.
But we did. Or so we told each other
However the real fun came in the scathing observations and interactions with Helen of Troy. In Penelope’s retelling we see behind the beauty to an exasperating presence who upends lives.
What I enjoyed less was the poetry of the Chorus Line. I understand Atwood was looking to represent and whilst I recognise it was well done I struggled a little with the flips between the prose and the poetry and much preferred the chapter of more traditional narration from the maids. I did appreciate hearing their voices being brought into their story.
You don’t have to think of us as real girls, real flesh and blood, real pain, real injustice. That might be too upsetting. Just discard the sordid part. Consider us pure symbol. We’re no more real than money.
A clever, sharp and unexpectedly playful retelling that brings something new to the story without ever sacrificing the origin myth.