Author: Laura Corona
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3
Summary: With her father Odysseus gone for twenty years, Xanthe barricades herself in her royal chambers to escape the rapacious suitors who would abduct her to gain the throne. Xanthe turns to her loom to weave the adventures of her life, from her upbringing among servants and slaves, to the years spent in hiding with her mother's cousin, Helen of Troy, to the passion of her sexual awakening in the arms of the man she loves.
And when a stranger dressed as a beggar appears at the palace, Xanthe wonders who will be the one to decide her future-a suitor she loathes, a brother she cannot respect, or a father who doesn't know she exists...
Summary: With her father Odysseus gone for twenty years, Xanthe barricades herself in her royal chambers to escape the rapacious suitors who would abduct her to gain the throne. Xanthe turns to her loom to weave the adventures of her life, from her upbringing among servants and slaves, to the years spent in hiding with her mother's cousin, Helen of Troy, to the passion of her sexual awakening in the arms of the man she loves.
And when a stranger dressed as a beggar appears at the palace, Xanthe wonders who will be the one to decide her future-a suitor she loathes, a brother she cannot respect, or a father who doesn't know she exists...
Review: Xanthe is the daughter of Odysseus and Penelope, who are the rulers of the Island kingdom of Ithaca. The book Penelope's Daughter follows her from her childhood where she is moved around from her Mother's palace, to her grandparents farm and eventually into hiding at her Mother's Cousin Helen's Kingdom of Sparta. This book was very interesting to me because it went further in the story of Odysseus then I have ever delved before. I have never considered the option, that Penelope might have had a daughter, or that Helen might have returned to Sparta, after the Trojan war had ended.
And when a stranger dressed as a beggar appears at the palace, Xanthe wonders who will be the one to decide her future-a suitor she loathes, a brother she cannot respect, or a father who doesn't know she exists...
In the book, Xanthe, is sent to Sparta, because the suitors in Ithaca are actually vying for her hand in marriage as well as her Mothers, to obtain Odysseus's kingdom. While in Sparta Xanthe, gains a new outlook, goes through a sexual awakening as she goes through what we would probably call puberty, and is put through what would now be considered occult rituals that are performed by Helen and her hand maidens. Xanthe experiences many firsts in Sparta and while there she finds the strength she will need when she returns home to find what the suitors and a mysterious beggar man have in store for her and her Mother and brother.
If your looking for a slightly different take on the story of Odysseus that involves the women, this is a book I'd strongly recommend :)
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