Ithaka

by Adèle Geras

Many years have passed since the end of the Trojan War, and Penelope is still waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return home. The city of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors from the surrounding islands who are vying to win Penelope's hand in marriage, thereby gaining control of the land. When a naked, half-drowned man washes up on the beach, everything changes. . . .

Told through the eyes of Klymene, a young girl who is like a daughter to Penelope--and who longs for more than friendship from the young prince Telemachus-- Ithaka captures the quiet strength and patience of a woman's enduring love for her husband and the ensuing chaos that threatens all as Penelope is pressured to remarry.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Young Adult, Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Historical, Fiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2005

About the author

Adèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.

Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.

Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.

Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.

Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Natasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story, full of magic and heartbreak, joy and sadness, and the trial and error of growing up. There's something for everyone here, with mystery, romance, and action-adventure. If you love historical stories or those based on myths, you won't go wrong with ITHAKA.

[Krista Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved this (until I hated it) perspective of Homer's "The Odyssey" one of my all time favorite books. This book tells the story of what happened at Odysseus' home for the twenty years he was away, first fighting in the Trojan War and then his ten-year long odyssey home. We see Telemachus growing up with two servants who are close to the family and many of the events in The Odyssey are woven into this story to great affect. We see Argos dream doggy dreams, Penelope struggle to cope with the increasing frustration of the suitors while she weaves (which somehow ties into what Odysseus is currently dealing with - that was a little odd), and the rest of the minor characters. This was all quite lovely and wonderful until *****SPOILER ALERT***** Penelope has a long-term affair with one of the suitors and falls in love with him. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I get it that it's a double standard that O can have sexual encounters with goddessess and somehow that's okay but it's not okay for Penelope, but that flies in the face of their first encounter when he returns still disguised as a beggar, which this book completely fails at capturing both of their cunning, cleverness, and delight in seeing each other. Some sexually explicit scenes. I thought this might be a nice companion to our Greek mythology unit. It's not.

[Allyson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second book I've read by Geras and my impression of her style remains the same - her style of writing is good but her lines?! Horrifying! It's like picking up Romeo and Juliet, expecting those beautifully posed words, and Juliet says "Oh my God! Can you, like, believe what she's, like, wearing? It's so, like, not hot!" The colloquialisms make me cringe. Her plot points are beautiful, her characters are usually well drawn (with the exception of the femme fatales, who are fairly one-dimensional and exactly the same in both books), but when an author writes the same thing over and over, it makes for boring reading.

[Cameran · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be honest this book was a disappointment. I had read her previous book Troy (which I loved!) many years ago, and had been expecting Ithaka to create that same sort of magic. Instead I received dull characters who I did not care about; the portrayal of Penelope was horrendous -- she is known/famed for remaining faithful to her husband over 20 years, so why change it??

[Sana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Emily Mcelveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is now one of my favorite books. It has a large focus on what happens in Ithaka while Odysseus is traveling back home. You get to know what all of the suitors are like much more than in anything I have read before. It also focuses on the relationship between Klymene and Ikarios, who are twins that have lived with their grandmother, Nana, who was also Odysseus' nurse. The biggest part of the plot is when Melantho comes into play in the beggining of the story. Telemachus ends up falling in love with her, which breaks Klymene's heart. Melantho also starts to like one of the suitors. This ends up causing everything like Penelopea's loom being destroyed because of the shroud. My favorite part is when Klymene meets Mydon in the very beggining because he is apologizing for the rest of Antinous' men. They end up falling in love at the end of the story, and also, Telemachus is free from Melantho by this time. I loved this book and i hope to pick up a copy sometime soon.

[Kristen Fort · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a far better story than Geras' other novel, Troy. This novel follows the life of the people on Odysseus' homeland of Ithaca, or Ithaka, if you prefer your anglicization to mirror more closely to the ancient Greek, which was also the spelling Lattimore chose to use in his translation.

Anyways. Four stars, but not five, because the timeline from 14-15 years to year 20 of Odysseus being away from home was a little confusing. Time is kept by the passing of moons, so the 14-year-old twins (Klymene, our female protagonist, and her brother Ikarios) and Melantho (manipulative bitch) and 15-year-old Telemachus start with love triangle or teenage hormone parallelogram and moons pass, and Melantho's antics make for a shapeless mishmash of... lies, deceit, and manipulation.

Argos has his own mini chapters. I nearly cried when the old dog finally passes away. Good boy.

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

The women of the Ithaka are waiting.
The goddess, Athene, waiting in the form of an owl, outside the queen’s window.
The queen, Penelope, waiting, weaving, and unweaving the shroud she has pledged to complete before choosing a new suitor to replace her husband.
And Klymene, the servant girl who has grown up in a palace overrun with the queen’s would-be suitors--all lurking like vultures seeking a kingdom they cannot claim.

Because these women stand in their way.

Adele Geras’s Ithaka is the tale of The Odyssey told from the women’s point of view. A study of love and loss, constancy and betrayal, and true heartbreak versus false.

[Hedwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cherished this book. Everything you could possibly want in one book; adventure, drama, chaos, war, bloodshed, sex, passion gods, goddesses and love. It has the classic spin of an ancient greek myth with gods and goddesses, written in a story format that made it much easier and enjoyable to read.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I always wondered why Odysseus got to cheat on Penelope, while she had to put up with all the suitors, remaining faithful, even though Odysseus wasn't to her. Narrated by Klymene, a girl who is almost like a daughter to Penelope. Very nicely told.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful take on "The Odyssey."

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Young Adult book. Therefore the prose is extremely workmanlike. And the sentences are short. And the sentiments are too.

I didn't realise this going in.

I quite liked the story. That is how I felt about the story. Even if the sentences sometimes sounded clumsy. Like someone dropping a plate.

I was confused by the situation. But if I put my sexist hat on long enough...well, I still didn't feel it was entirely earned. I don't remember the situation getting this bad in the real story. However, the ending got to the well-worn point in...novel fashion.

That joke is funny because this is a novel.

I think the character of Leodes is made up for this book. This is a shame, because that was the only relationship I gave two shits about. But the ending ended this quite well, which was a reasonably satisfying experience.

I didn't understand Melantho's conclusion to the story, because of the lack of subtlety in the prose. That needed more words to make sense if the style is kept the same.

When I getted to be the age of a teenager, I started reading adult books. I don't understand the point in YA fiction.

[Haitham Nizar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never thought of myself reading something like this before... but this book carries a special place in my heart...

Because it’s what got me back to reading again after a long period of not reading 📖

I enjoyed this book a lot, it’s a mix of thrill, unknown, and a bit of romance hidden between it’s lines... but mostly... it focuses on hope.. hope of a kid that always wanted to meet his father

Who went on a journey of looking for him...
I will not spoil this any further than this... find out for yourself what goes on in that story 😉

[honeyy26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don’t enjoy stories where the perspectives switch but this story did it very well. I loved following Klymene and it was quite nice to have a simple main character. It made it easier to live through her for the story and the constant and positive connection to the gods was so fascinating. Each persons telling of the same days was very well written. I love Argos so much and it added such a nice relief to the story when he was involved sweet puppy. Another good book!!

[Sydney King · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty good book. I liked most of the characters and I could see these characters have some of the thoughts they did in the original story. I liked Troy better to be honest. Simply because it made me feel more emotions. In this book there was some emotional parts, but overall it was a story that didn't force my emotions out.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading The Odyssey and another book similar to this one, this book added to everything. It was amazing! I love Adele Geras’ format of the book. It was cool how it changed perspectives and included parts of the Odyssey. It also included Argos’ dreams. I wish there was more!

[Sula · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Stylistically an easy-going read, but definitely YA in terms of content. Reasonably enjoyable, but not something that stood out to me. Argos, Odysseus' dog, has to be one of the best characters!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was good!!!!!!
i loved seeing what the odyssey wouldve looked like for penelope waiting for odysseus and the whole situation with the suitors.
good

[Feathzzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a disappointment..... 3

[Patricia Letient · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on the life of Penelope as she waits for the return of Odysseus as seen through the eyes of a young girl in Penelope's household. Really meant for a young teenage reader.

[Timothy Macqueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspective from the other side of the Odyssey.

[Cadence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it so much and read it way too fast lol I'm excited to read it again!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as beautiful as its prequel.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment after Troy which was a definite 5-star for me, but still a good read and an interesting take on women's experience of the Odyssey story.

[Jaclynn (JackieReadsAlot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5?
It was ok. Very YA, which I didn't know going. Also hard to feel anything for Odysseus, a chronic cheater who murdered all of his female servants upon his return in the real story.

[Savannah Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story compelling enough for the pages to turn without effort. I finished it shortly after starting it. What the dialogue lacked, inner monologues and descriptions made up for.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written Greek story.

[Axel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending felt very rushed and overall not fully what I expected 😭

[BooksAndMinerals · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Ithaka. Both the romantic intrigue and political scheming are shallow, almost surface level.

[Amanda Macias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting stories. It follows the different characters perspectives in a way that makes since and goes in-depth into them all. I got attached to the characters and enjoyed the Greek mythology in it and the way how it showed how they interacted with the humans. Sheds light on a truth that was hidden. Very goo book.