Description

20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR
AND AN AFTERWORD BY PHILIP PULLMAN

Now that all the others have run out of air, it’s my turn to do a little story-making . . . So I’ll spin my own thread.

Penelope . . . immortalised in legend and Greek myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband’s return from the Trojan war.

Now, in Atwood’s wise and witty retelling of the myth, Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story – a tale of lust, greed and murder.

Publisher Review

As potent as a curse * * Sunday Times * * Explores the very nature of mythic story-telling — MARY BEARD * * Guardian * * Determinedly irreverent * * New York Times * * A witty desecration * * Observer * * Pragmatic, clever, domestic, mournful, Penelope is a perfect Atwood heroine * * Spectator * * Half Dorothy Parker, half Desperate Housewives * * Independent * *