Circe, Madeline Miller

As a lover of mythology and lore, Greek mythology tends to be my least favorite. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t found it told in a way that pulls at my insides, until Circe. It’s easy to see why it has almost 30,000 favorable ratings on Amazon. I love to peruse reviews before my own and giggled at the few that were disappointed in “offensive language” because we are still in the age where people need to tone police others.

I loved the storytelling, each step, mistake, and each repair. I loved the amount of research that went into writing this and how the author brought the characters to life. This was most rewarding to finish and close the book’s cover and set it by my side to sit for a few hours in quiet contemplation. A wonderfully satisfying read!

Circe is available on Amazon, Bookshop, and B&N.

About the Book

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child — not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power — the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.

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