Why am I passionate about this?

I've been interested in feminine figures since I was a small, Catholic child presented with the Virgin Mary! Further down the road in graduate school and in my teaching career as an English Professor at a small Liberal Arts college, I began to research comparative mythology and the study of archetypes with a particular emphasis on the female divine. Now, after publishing three books and several articles on the goddesses, I'm happy to help others in their journey of discovery. I believe a good way to approach that study today is to focus on how our contemporary women writers portray goddesses in their works of fiction and non-fiction.


I wrote

The Myth of the Year: Returning to the Origin of the Druid Calendar

By Helen Benigni, Barbara Carter, Eadhmonn Ua Cuinn

Book cover of The Myth of the Year: Returning to the Origin of the Druid Calendar

What is my book about?

The Myth of the Year reveals the astronomy underlying Celtic and Greek mythology using the calendar of the Druids discovered…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Circe

Helen Benigni Why did I love this book?

The book is told from the goddess Circe’s point of view, beginning with her childhood among the Titans until she is banished to her island where she becomes a powerful oracle, enchantress, herbalist, and feminist with magic powers to seduce men.

Her narrative is at once enthralling because Circe, being a goddess who lives for over a thousand years, experiences the heroes from the Trojan War, the demi-gods of Greece, and the adventures of her lovers and her own self-discoveries that mark her journey through the ages.

On a personal note, Circe’s journey hits home with anyone, like myself, who has struggled with becoming an independent woman.

By Madeline Miller,

Why should I read it?

42 authors picked Circe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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…


Book cover of The Penelopiad

Helen Benigni Why did I love this book?

Margaret Atwood’s feisty, feminist tale is told from the perspective of a demi-goddess, Penelope, who has been abandoned for ten years while her husband, Odysseus, has gone off to the Trojan War.

Unable to manage the loneliness and grief, Atwood suggests that Penelope, as a descendent of the Moon Goddess, started a cult with twelve priestesses who sing to her and worship Artemis. Atwood’s short and engaging novella gives us a new perspective on how women of ancient times created their own realities and centers of feminine power.

On a personal note, Atwood reminds us that as women today, we are still responsible for creating our own support groups and circles of feminist power in times of crisis.

By Margaret Atwood,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Penelopiad as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Penelope. Immortalised in legend and myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband's return.

Now Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story - a tale of lust, greed and murder.

The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and…


Book cover of The Antelope Wife

Helen Benigni Why did I love this book?

Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Antelope Wife, focuses on a battered woman who turns to her ancient tribal beliefs in the spirits of Nature, and in particular, the antelopes of the prairie, to help her overcome abuse.

The Antelope Wife and the Antelope Goddesses are totem figures in Native American Mythology that symbolize freedom and independence, especially for those who are abused and beaten by their spouse.

The generations of Antelope women who follow the goddess are presented by Erdrich as strong, independent females who must overcome the hardships of life in the city by retaining their belief in themselves and their ability to overcome disaster.

The story is an uplifting tale of bravery and cunning that will inspire and comfort any reader who seeks guidance and those readers who simply yearn to see an example of fortitude and success in the face of danger. On a personal note, it’s a good book for those who can relate and those who should empathize.

By Louise Erdrich,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Antelope Wife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Past and present combine in a contemporary tale of love and betrayal from Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, 2012

'Everything is all knotted up in a tangle. Pull one string of this family and the whole web will tremble.'

Rozin and Richard, living in Minneapolis with their two young daughters, seem a long way from the traditions of their Native American ancestors. But when one of their acquaintances kidnaps a strange and silent young woman from a Native American camp and brings her back to live with him as his wife, the connections they all…


Book cover of The Horse Goddess

Helen Benigni Why did I love this book?

The Horse Goddess is a novel for anyone who loves horses!

It is the story of the Indo-European migrations in prehistoric central Europe, specifically in what is now Switzerland, where the lover of Epona, a young and spirited goddess, sweeps her away to his home, which is the plains of Russia.

Here, very far from home and anything that she knows, Epona experiences taming horses, riding horses, going into battle on a horse, and anything equine that remotely would inspire her to return home with her knowledge and gifts for her people.

Her journey is one that we can all relate to whether we are horse-people or not. It’s about the gifts of knowledge and creativity that a woman who becomes a goddess brings to enlighten her people.

On a personal note, the story is one that inspired me to the epiphany that being part of a culture and gifting that culture with your own discoveries is what makes us feel that being a part of something much larger than ourselves gives meaning to life.

By Morgan Llywelyn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Horse Goddess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The adventures and exploits of Epona--who flees her Celtic trible with the Scythian warrior, Kazhak, and battles the menacing Shapechanger--shape the legends that make her a goddess


Book cover of The Living Goddesses

Helen Benigni Why did I love this book?

Marija Gimbutas’ The Living Goddesses is a great place to start your study of goddesses.

Gimbutas is a major researcher in the field of goddess studies, and her book is quoted more than often. Instead of reading other scholars’ work that quotes Gimbutas, why not read the original study of Paleolithic and Neolithice archetypes and their descendents in several Bronze and Iron Age cultures.

Additionally, Gimbutas postulates how those archetypes have evolved in contemporary culture. Matrilineal social structure as mirrored in religion and myth is the basis of Gimbutas’ gift to women today.

By Marija Gimbutas, Miriam R. Dexter (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Living Goddesses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Living Goddesses crowns a lifetime of innovative, influential work by one of the twentieth-century's most remarkable scholars. Marija Gimbutas wrote and taught with rare clarity in her original--and originally shocking--interpretation of prehistoric European civilization. Gimbutas flew in the face of contemporary archaeology when she reconstructed goddess-centered cultures that predated historic patriarchal cultures by many thousands of years. This volume, which was close to completion at the time of her death, contains the distillation of her studies, combined with new discoveries, insights, and analysis. Editor Miriam Robbins Dexter has added introductory and concluding remarks, summaries, and annotations. The first part…


Explore my book 😀

The Myth of the Year: Returning to the Origin of the Druid Calendar

By Helen Benigni, Barbara Carter, Eadhmonn Ua Cuinn

Book cover of The Myth of the Year: Returning to the Origin of the Druid Calendar

What is my book about?

The Myth of the Year reveals the astronomy underlying Celtic and Greek mythology using the calendar of the Druids discovered in Coligny, France and the Sacred Calendar of Eleusis of ancient Greece. The myths of the ancients follow the seasons through the constellations illuminating the path of knowledge our ancestors lived throughout their years. To fully explain the meaning of these seasonal myths, the origin of the goddesses and the gods are traced to their Neolithic roots using Marija Gimbutas' archetypes of the Neolithic Pantheon. Indo-European adaptations made to some of the major deities are also discussed, providing a profile of the evolution of the ancient goddesses and gods from Neolithic times to their present representations in the night sky.  

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Christmas Actually

By Lisa Darcy,

Book cover of Christmas Actually

Lisa Darcy Author Of The Pact

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Cat lover Traveler Reader Amateur tennis player Foodie

Lisa's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Every picture tells a story, but it’s not always the one we expect or remember. Christmas Actually is a festive drama about family and forgiveness and a snapshot of modern family life, addressing Instagram to motherhood and everything in between.

Why Christmas? My publisher wanted my new novel to have a festive theme, specifically set in Australia–sun, surf, sunburn, and prawns. Christmas in Australia is very different from Christmas in the UK, USA, and Canada. We typically wear shorts and t-shirts, eat salad and seafood for Christmas lunch, and play beach cricket in the afternoon. Despite the season, conflicts, secrets,…

Christmas Actually

By Lisa Darcy,

What is this book about?

Time spent with family can be challenging, especially at Christmas actually…

Kate Cavendish is stuck in a rut. That is until a former colleague contacts her and offers her a chance to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a successful photographer.

With her focus pulled in all directions by her children, her pregnant sister, her newly-dating mother, and the niggling worry that her husband might be having an affair, Kate is filled with self-doubt.

Then as the countdown to Christmas begins, and memories of her own childhood resurface, Kate’s anxiety deepens – both personally and professionally. Can she move on…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in goddess, heroes, and kidnapping?

Goddess 23 books
Heroes 112 books
Kidnapping 117 books