Name of Book: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher: Audible / Bloomsbury
Publication Date: April 19, 2018
No. of Hours: 12 Hours 8 Minutes
Narrator: Perdita Weeks
Format: Audiobook
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.
When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.
There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from or the mortals she has come to love.
Breathing life into the ancient world, Madeline Miller weaves an intoxicating tale of gods and heroes, magic and monsters, survival and transformation.
Circe by Madeline Miller is available on Amazon :
Madeline Miller grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. She has taught and tutored Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to high school students for over fifteen years. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms.
The Song of Achilles, her first novel, was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times Bestseller. Her second novel, Circe, was an instant number 1 New York Times bestseller, and won the Indies Choice Best Adult Fiction of the Year Award and the Indies Choice Best Audiobook of the Year Award, as well as being shortlisted for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Circe also won The Red Tentacle Award, an American Library Association Alex Award (adult books of special interest to teen readers), and the 2018 Elle Big Book Award. Miller's novels have been translated into over twenty-five languages including Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic and Greek, and her essays have appeared in a number of publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Telegraph, Lapham's Quarterly and NPR.org. Most recently, she has published a standalone short story, Galatea. She currently lives outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
My Opinion
Circe by Madeline Miller, can be best described as a woman's ordeal and search for identity and power. The plot is so smooth that so many women can connect with Circe's character. A powerless woman searching for the true meaning of life in her own way was something to brace upon. But, the book doesn't have much Greek action, as the story is narrated from the main character's viewpoint.
Although the plot slowed down in the middle, the narrator's voice kept me hooked. It was the latter half of the book that was far more interesting and something to set your mind on. Circe's character development from Helios's daughter to a mother was amazing. It is the first time I am reading a Greek Mythology from a woman's POV. I read the book as a part of the #52booksin52weeks reading challenge. Definitely, the book deserves 4 stars and I am all set to read the next book by the author.
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