The Girl from Ithaca

This is an engaging take on the Trojan war from the point of view of Odysseus's sister, Neomene (not a character known to Homer). I enjoyed this rather more than the critically acclaimed Song of Achilles. Neomene is a sympathetic and quirky observer and her fictional status (to the extent that other characters in Homer are not fictional at one level, that is) gives the author flexibility to involve her in all sorts of escapades within the Greek camp, and sneaking into Troy, encountering Amazons and so on. Great fun, and I will read the sequel Walls of Troy quite soon.

An interesting and mostly entertaining piece of historical fiction. The Girl From Ithaca is a ground floor view of the lead up to, and the beginnings of, the Greek siege of Troy as perceived by a princess of Greece. Neomene, sister of King Odysseus of Ithaca, is the titular character and she has followed her brother to the Trojan battlefield. While there she has many adventures as she witnesses the political intrigues and military maneuverings that occur between the battles. She also makes friends - and enemies - among the Greek forces and interacts with many of the central figures from the legendary poem.

Gregory's use of first-person narrative is decently rendered and as a protagonist, Neomene has a clear and strong voice. Sometimes show more too strong and clear. At times, her dialog feels a bit beyond her 14 years - especially at the beginning of the book. By the time the Greeks have spent a couple of years on the Trojan plain, she will have matured, so her grown-up 'voice' becomes less jarring as the story progresses. For me, the bigger issue with Gregory choosing first-person for this story; by viewing the Trojan War through the eyes of one relatively minor character, the bigger picture often loses focus. The sweeping battles are, for us, spent with Neomene and the other women, waiting to hear about the results second-hand. Now, while I admit that that is certainly a realistic perspective, it still does not make for a very exciting rendition of the war!

I also rarely complain when a book is too short but, in this instance, I could have stood a few more pages to better develop some of the side stories and secondary characters. For instance, King Agamemnon and Prince Palamedes were just too one-dimensional for me. They are cast mostly in the role of villains here and I happen to prefer my bad guys with more shades of grey. Let's face it, a villain that conflicts you is a lot more interesting than one that is completely hissable, no? When writing historical fiction, I think it's ok to take a bit of poetic license and introduce smatterings of character complexity.

With those quibbles out of the way, I really did enjoy reading this book. It is a well-written first volume with an intriguing central character and I definitely plan to read the sequel, The Walls of Troy, soon. show less