The Penelopiad Book Cover


The Penelopiad
The Penelopiad
"Homer's Odyssey is not the only version of the story. Mythic material was originally oral, and also local — a myth would be told one way in one place and quite differently in another. I have drawn on material other than the Odyssey, especially for the details of Penelope's parentage, her early life and marriage, and the scandalous rumors circulating about her. I've chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn't hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I've always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself."  —from Margaret Atwood's Foreword to The Penelopiad.

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Excerpts from The Penelopiad
Excerpt: Foreword to the Penelopiad - Canongate
Extract: "My marriage was arranged." - Canongate
Excerpt: "What can I tell you about the next ten years?" - PBS


Interviews and Articles Regarding The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood's Acting Debut (10/2005) - The Times
Conversation with Atwood and Lloyd (10/2005) - The Guardian
Interview with Boyd Tonkin


Book Reviews
A Collection of Reviews - Canongate
The New York Times, 2005
The Times, 2005
The Independent, 2005
Forbes, 2005
Entertainment Weekly, 2005
Quill and Quire, 2005
Bookreporter.com, 2005
Audio Review: NPR, 2005







to Margaret Atwood's Novels

to Margaret Atwood



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This page created on December 18, 2006 by Anniina Jokinen. Last updated January 3, 2007.

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Margaret Atwood has gone on to become not just
a major Canadian Writer, and a woman writer (whom some would call a Feminist Writer),
but an award-winning author of English literature. Her works include novels,
short stories, poetry, etc.