I got this fair-condition ex-library softcover from Better World Books. It's the story of Odysseus from the viewpoint of a young serving girl who waits on Penelope, and who sees the trials of the waiting wife and the worried son... Many of the well-known aspects of the story are included here, plus some expanded plots about the serving women and the many suitors for Penelope's hand; as the time of Odysseus' absence nears twenty years, the pressure on Penelope to take a husband becomes intense, and there's a lot of jockeying for influence among the suitors, including attempts to get some of the serving women to spy for them. Young Aleta is torn by her devotion to her mistress - and to her grandmother, the most loyal of the household staff - and her love for her mother, who has never been close to her and who is now the mistress of one of the suitors. [We also get glimpses of the reasons for the bitterness of the rebellious servants: most of them were captured in wartime and torn from their homes, to be placed in slavery, or were the offspring of those so enslaved. The Odyssey doesn't make very much of this - it was common to all sides in the conflict, with everyone potentially an equal-opportunity captive - but this story does remind us that the faceless and nameless slaves and servants of the original work each had their own history, often a tragic one...

That said, the tone of the story is generally upbeat, with Aleta rewarded for her loyalty, and a relatively happy resolution (for all except those dratted suitors; I don't know if anyone's ever written a story with any sympathy for them). I liked the stylized artwork, too.

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 Royalty release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2018 Mothers Day release challenge. ***