Circe by Madeline Miller

Summary:

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--neither 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 with the mortals she has come to love.

About the Author:

Madeline Miller is an American author who was fascinated by Greek Mythology from a young age. She taught Latin, Greek and Shakespeare for over a decade. Her debut novel is The Song of Achilles. Circe is her second book. She is a New York Times Bestseller.

Rating:

5 stars - ★★★★★

Review:

Circe was definitely one of those books that I didn’t want to put down. I loved Circe’s character. Her strength, resilience, mistakes and witchcraft. I enjoyed meeting all the familiar characters from Greek mythology, seeing them in a new light, and watching their stories weave in and out of Circe’s. It’s a story full of love, family conflict, healing and self-forgiveness. It reminds us that family are the people that we choose, and it’s never too late to become the person that we want to be.

Daedelus definitely sticks out as a character to me. I knew the story of Icarus but I had forgotten (or maybe I never knew) that Deadelus was his father. He seemed kind, gentle and thoughtful which is a contrast to many men in Greek mythology who tend to fit the hero archetype. The other character that particularly stood out was Scylla. I felt terribly sorry for her being punished so badly for such a long time. And all over a guy. Honestly so glad that Circe grew out of that kind of drama. 

Circe was fast paced, moving from one myth to another, there were dozens of stories in one as we revisited lots of the Greek myths, but you were still pulled into each scene and experiencing each one through fresh eyes. There’s hundreds of years to fit into this story, some of it is in snapshot form, however Circe is the main character so it’s all centred around her. We get to find out more about the people who were truly important to her like Daedelus and Odysseus, and some others we just cross paths with. Scylla’s story was the one that pulled me in and made me feel the most. I think it set the scene perfectly for Circe’s transformation from meek and seeking external approval, to the powerful, confident witch that we know her as.

I also liked the cross-over between Circe and Penelope. Having recently read Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, I was intrigued to meet Penelope in Circe. Many of the characters did seem similar between the two books but I much preferred Telemachus in Circe than in The Penelopiad. Although Circe does mention that Penelope didn’t have the closest relationship with her son, so the differences come from the different narrators.

I love reading about women in their own stories, rather than as love interests or antagonists of the male heroes (the well known example of this is Medusa, who is only trying to protect herself and is always portrayed as some kind of monster). Circe is typically painted as a vengeful witch who transforms anyone who crosses her into beasts. It’s nice to see an alternative view of her where she is just looking for love, peace, acceptance and the ability to become her own person.

I have always loved Greek mythology, that was my main motivator for taking Latin in secondary school, but the usual telling of myths is somewhat detached as it’s just snapshots of the characters and we don’t get to know them intimately. I want to know the characters intimately, which is where these beautiful retellings come in. They really make everything come to life.

I like Circe because she’s flawed and sad and angry and sometimes boring, just milling about her island. I really don’t want to see feminist books where the main character is perfect and strong all the time. This is much more inspiring and realistic. It takes Circe time to know herself, to forgive herself, to stop searching for other people’s approval and to become who she truly wants to be. 

I love how Circe was written, the pace was just right, it is full of feelings (good and bad) and full of familiar characters who flit in and out of the story. I was captivated and now I want to be Circe. I want to live on an island, make potions, pet my lions and walk around in the sea breeze. I have also immediately added more Madeline Miller books to my ‘To Be Read’ list.

I would recommend Circe to any witch, Greek mythology lover and boring feminist who just wants to see a woman finally get what she wants.