The Odyssey

Paperback Published on: 06/04/2023
Price: £9.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Odyssey
Perfect for "Sad Girl Summer"
This book was a wild ride! The pacing was perfect and the characters were fascinating. The cruise ship setting helped create the claustrophobic atmosphere ... READ MORE
Celina at Waterstones Liverpool, Liverpool
The Odyssey
A satirical and melancholic story about the lengths we go to, to feel accepted
This book is absolutely one that I recommend going into knowing a little as possible so this review is going to be cautious, with that in mind. The Odyssey... READ MORE
Léa at Brighton

Synopsis

Meet Ingrid. She works on a gargantuan luxury cruise liner, where she spends her days reorganizing the merchandise and waiting for long-term guests to drop dead in the changing rooms.

On her days off, she disembarks from the ship and gets blind drunk on whatever the local alcohol is. It's not a bad life. And it distracts her from thinking about the other life she left behind five years ago.

Until one day she is selected for the employee mentorship scheme - an initiative run by the ship's mysterious captain and self-anointed lifestyle guru, Keith, who pushes Ingrid further than she thought possible. But sooner or later, she will have to ask herself: how far is too far?

Utterly original, mischievous and thought-provoking, The Odyssey is a merciless takedown of consumer capitalism and our anxious, ill-fated quests for something to believe in. And as its title suggests, it is a voyage that will eventually lead its unlikely heroine all the way home. Though she'd do almost anything to avoid getting there.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
  • ISBN: 9780241991657
  • Number of pages: 208
  • Dimensions: 197 x 128 x 12 mm
  • Weight: 151g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Odyssey
Didn't know what to expect, could not put the book down!
I found this in a book swap box whilst on holiday. It was hiding beneath what seemed to be every book ever written in German, but oh wow was I glad to keep... READ MORE
JB
The Odyssey
Strange but good
Unique and well written. Lara Williams writes very well about millennial angst.
Mrs E. Jones
The Odyssey
Cruise ship gone wrong
The Odyssey is a novel about a woman working on a cruise ship whose avoidance of life and the world on dry land is tested by an employee improvement progra... READ MORE
Siobhan Dunlop
The Odyssey
Strange, enigmatic read
This is a strange book, and I like strange books. This is one of those books that keeps you wondering what you are really reading about, because it's quite... READ MORE
federica angele
The Odyssey
Slightly addictive
An unusual read, oddly compelling, strangely disturbing, a bit unsettling. Ingrid has left her marriage behind to work on the Wa a huge cruise ship. She is... READ MORE
Kate
The Odyssey
A voyage like no other
There are some gleeful tricks going on in the presentation of The Odyssey. First, take that cover, with its glittering swimming-pool water and a pink infla... READ MORE
Blue Book Balloon
The Odyssey
Weird but enjoyable
The Odyssey, Lara Williams’ dystopian modern retelling of Homer’s epic poem, is a surreal trip through a troubled woman’s psyche that examines the profound... READ MORE
Emer O'Toole
The Odyssey
Lara Williams - The Odyssey
It’s been five years now that Ingrid has left her husband and former life to work on board the luxury cruise liner WA. She regularly has to rotate between ... READ MORE
miss.mesmerized
The Odyssey
Trippy
This was an absolute trip. I feverishly devoured this book over a few sittings in one day. If you like absurd, bizarre, strange fiction like The Pisces or... READ MORE
Niamh Morrison
The Odyssey
Deliciously unhinged
I was intrigued by the cover and the title but my God did The Odyssey deliver! I think the less you know going into this the better. It really takes you on... READ MORE
Maria Henke
The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Lara Williams
My thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK and Lara Williams for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Ingrid works on a cruise liner and has done for se... READ MORE
Joseph Hall
The Odyssey
Quirky
The first thing that comes to mind when describing this book is quirky. Which is something I appreciate in a read. I have to say I preferred the parts set ... READ MORE
Emily  Brown
The Odyssey
Enjoyable
The Odyssey by Lara Williams is highly original and unusual and yet weirdly relatable. The strong narrative voice carries you along. I look forward to read... READ MORE
camille osborne