Books like “The Penelopiad”

What to read after “The Penelopiad” by Margaret Atwood: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Lavinia
Ursula K. Le Guin · 2008
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Lavinia grows up in Latium, a king's daughter who has no voice in her own story. A prophecy names a stranger from Troy as her husband, and when Aeneas arrives their union sets off a war. Years later she tells her own version of the life the epic left unspoken.
2
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Xingyin grows up alone on the moon, hidden from the emperor who exiled her mother for stealing an elixir of immortality. When her magic is discovered she flees, conceals her identity at the celestial court and trains as a warrior to win her mother's freedom.
3
Ariadne
Jennifer Saint · 2021
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
Princess Ariadne helps Theseus escape the labyrinth, then is abandoned on a shore where Dionysus finds her. She must decide how much of her story to give away to a god, and what freedom is worth.
4
Kaikeyi
Vaishnavi Patel · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Born a princess and cast aside by her father, Kaikeyi claims a place at court and wins the love of a king. When war threatens her sons' future, she uses the boons she was granted to change the fate of a kingdom.
5
The Once and Future King
T. H. White · 1958
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Betrayal
A boy called Wart is educated by the wizard Merlyn, who turns him into animals so he can learn what it is to be human. He grows into Arthur, king of a divided Britain, and tries to build an order that will outlive him.
6
Circe
Madeline Miller · 2018
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Outcast Hero
Born to a sun god, Circe is banished to a lonely island for her forbidden magic. She hones her craft, meets travellers and monsters, and slowly chooses what kind of immortal she wants to be.
7
The Stardust Thief
Chelsea Abdullah · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Loulie al-Nazari, the Midnight Merchant, trades in jinn relics with her jinn bodyguard Qadir. When the sultan forces her into a search for a lost lamp, she must cross a desert of jinn, thieves and old stories, where the line between merchant and prey keeps shifting.
8
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
Axie Oh · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Mina takes her brother's place as the sacrifice meant to calm the Sea God, and wakes in the realm of spirits. There she searches for the god, hoping to save her village and the boy who has waited for her.
9
A Touch of Darkness
Scarlett St. Clair · 2019
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Persephone is a young journalist who wants an ordinary life, away from her mother Demeter's plans. At a nightclub she meets Hades, the god of the dead, and loses a wager that binds her to his realm. She must learn to grow life in the underworld, or surrender to a love she was warned against.
10
Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman · 2005
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Fat Charlie Nancy learns that the father he barely knew was the spider god Anansi, and that he has a brother he never met. Spider is charming, magical and trouble, and he turns Charlie's careful life upside down while Charlie tries to bury a past that will not stay buried.
11
The Witch's Heart
Genevieve Gornichec · 2021
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Angrboda is a witch burned three times for refusing to reveal the future. She hides in a forest and builds a quiet life until Loki finds her, and their children draw the eyes of the gods. A prophecy turns every small happiness into a countdown.
12
Bridge of Birds
Barry Hughart · 1984
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
In an ancient China that never was, a plague falls on the children of a village. Number Ten Ox seeks the sage Master Li, a scholar with 'a slight flaw in his character', and the two set off through ghosts, gods and bandits to find the one cure that can save the children.