What do You think about Homer's Daughter (2005)?
I rated it five stars because this is one of these few novels I have read more than once and probably will read again in the future.Graves is unique as story-teller. In this novel he gives his voice to Nausicaa, a young, smart princess of Sicily who dreams about writing an epic poem while facing a conspiracy againts her royal family. Graves wrote this delicious homeric novel inspired in Butler's theory about the Odissey. According Butler, the author of this epic was a woman, and he gives some details to support his theory. Graves found it original and inspiring and he wrote Homer's Daugther.
—Montse de Paz
Es una novela de aventura, basada en una hipótesis que probablemente "La Odisea" haya sido escrita por una princesa Siciliana. La princesa Nausicaa que aparece en la epopeya del regreso a Ítaca de Ulises, es en esta obra de ficción, la que escribe la versión original de este épico, como hija de Homero (título que se daba a los que recitaban la poesía Homérica en las cortes de los reyes y construían poemas relacionados a la época helénica), recién nacida e inspirada por la propia Atenea, construye la trama de acuerdo a un incidente que sucedió en su propio hogar.Disfrute mucho la narrativa y me pareció una novela histórica muy bien realizada, acorde a la maestría de Graves con el tema Griego/Romano, la tragedia, la comedia y el estilo homérico, creo realmente que es un hijo de Homero, como lo es Alfonso Reyes, por ejemplo con el poema de Ifigenia Cruel.
—Hugo
Robert Graves, best known for I, Claudius, uses Samuel Butler’s theory that The Odyssey was actually written by a Sicilian woman as the inspiration for the novel Homer’s Daughter. Nausicaa, daughter of an Elyman king, faces a host of unwelcome suitors while the king is away and has to devise a means of getting rid of them. Luckily, she is quick-witted and resourceful in facing her conundrum. She also has a knack for poetry and has a bard in her debt who happens to be a Son of Homer. With these advantages, she is able to ensure that her words, if not her name (at least not as authoress), live on for eternity. After a rocky start explaining the origins of all the regional tribes and Nausicaa’s ancestry in excessive detail, Graves finds his rhythm in this clever and witty story. It’s fun seeing what he comes up with to explain various elements of the Odyssey as envisioned by Nausicaa. The writing captures the style of the original Iliad and Odyssey perfectly, complete with over-the-top declamations, implausible feats, and gross-out violence. This is fan fiction, but it’s the fan fiction of a classical scholar who knows his stuff, even if he is a touch irreverent and unorthodox.
—Sarah (Presto agitato)
