Penelopiad (Canongate Myths series)

Penelope. Immortalised in legend and myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband's return.

Now Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story - a tale of lust, greed and murder.

"As potent as a curse" (Sunday Times)

"Fabulous . . . Determinedly irreverent" (New York Times)

"A witty desecration . . . Atwood plays with vigour and ingenuity" (Observer)

"Atwood takes Penelope's part with tremendous verve . . . she explores the very nature of mythic story-telling" (MARY BEARD Guardian)

"Pragmatic, clever, domestic, mournful, Penelope is a perfect Atwood heroine" (Spectator)

"Half Dorothy Parker, half Desperate Housewives" (Independent)