A review by laura_trap
Ithaca Forever: Penelope Speaks by Luigi Malerba

5.0

Impressed by this translation and this short, succinct, but powerful retelling of the return of Odysseus to Ithaca and a new voice for Penelope. There is a double narrative in multiple aspects propelling the story along. First we have the dual POV, switching from Odysseus and Penelope, the two eventually circling around each other through lies and fiction, doubt and surety. The narrative remains very true to the story as it plays out in the epic poem and fills in gaps where it sees fit, but does not embellish or lengthen the story. Then we have the surface story of the games the pair play between each other, the hurts and the rehurts, and then story lingering underneath that a reader with more familiarity with the Homeric poems will understand. The question of history, memory, and who will be remembered as time moves forward lingers in the thoughts of both wife and resurrected husband. Whence does the truth come from? Who decides what is truth when so many exist in the world becomes the culminating theme towards the end of the story, and depending on how you read it, only the reader can decide. Very well written, deserving of its high praise. It contains that lyric movement and pacing as well as the current of gods and Fates.