Why did I love this book?
I have not encountered a novel as close to perfect as Madeline Miller's Circe.
Both epic and intimate, brutal and gentle, Miller crafts a spellbinding tale of a god who wishes to be mortal. Her illusions to the myths and use of the classic characters are purposeful and enrich this story so much. The prose is beautiful and precisely poetic. Every sentence is purposeful, meaningful, and contributes to the story.
Miller's epic is ultimately about naivety, foolishness, and wisdom. None can exist in isolation.
At every turn and with every choice, Circe's naivety leads to heartbreak and occasionally destruction. Her foolishness leads her to be taken advantage of by Gods and mortals. But she learns from her millennia of mistakes. Miller argues that it takes much foolishness for someone to become wise.
In the novel, Miller depicts the Greek gods and titans as brutal, cowardly, egotistical, curious, and sadistic. They are not something to envy or aspire to. Circe learns this and this leads to a brilliant and completely satisfying ending.
43 authors picked Circe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The international Number One bestseller from the author of The Song of Achilles, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
Woman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens…