Second paragraph of third chapter:

Of these, the three men and the boy consider themselves the most pertinent. They stand round a table of yew set with shards of tortoiseshell, and bicker.

This is the first of a trilogy about Odysseus’ wife Penelope, waiting for him to return to Ithaca (if he ever will), balancing the interests of the suitors who have come to try and persuade her to marry them, narrated by the goddess Hera who is observing closely and just occasionally interfering to counter the interference of Athena, Artemis and the others.

Ithaca is being raided by pirates, supposedly Illyrians from the north; it doesn’t take the reader, or Penelope, long to work out what is really going on – one of the suitors is behind it; it takes a lot longer to sort out, given the male domination of legitimate violence, even in a kingdom ruled by a woman. In the meantime Clytemnestra has fled Mycenae and her vengeful children, and the consequent instability is spreading west to Ithaca too. It’s all convincingly told, in the constraints of myth.

I have generally enjoyed Claire North’s books, and I enjoyed this too; and now that I realise there are another two books to go, I’ll be getting them. You can get it here.

This was my top unread book acquired in 2022. Next on that pile is Ancient Paths, by Graham Robb.