Ithaka

A companion novel to Troy, Ithaka recounts the experiences of those waiting on Ithaka for Odysseus while he journeys home. Ithaka is besieged by the boorish suitors, who take advantage of Odysseus’s absence to exploit the weakened state and who hope to take over the island by subjugating its queen. Though the book does deal with Penelope’s story, it does so through the eyes of her serving maid, Klymene. Penelope struggles to decide whether to abandon her loyalty to Odysseus and marry his old friend Leodes, with whom she gradually falls in love. Meanwhile, Klymene confronts her own feelings for Telemachus, who is taken in by the manipulative Melantho, another handmaid. Klymene must also fend off unwelcome attentions from others and learn to distinguish between self-seeking and selfless men.

The main focus of the narrative is on Klymene’s path to an adult understanding of relationships between men and women and how women negotiate their position in this society. Klymene grows in understanding through her observations both of Penelope, whom she greatly admires, and of Melantho, who in her self-serving approach to others provides a foil to both Klymene and Penelope.

Geras creates a vivid, credible world which combines immediacy with a convincing realisation of antiquity. Moreover, though the novel is written with contemporary style and realism, she strikes a nice balance between this and faithfulness to the classical world: this is a world in which the gods and fate do take a hand, though human reactions to them are entirely convincing. Penelope’s weaving magically tells the story of The Odyssey in brief poetic sections which add depth and colour to an already compelling novel.