#BookGroup #BookReview -‘Circe’ by Madeline Miller

About the book…

When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Yet, in the golden halls of gods and nymphs, Circe stands apart, as something separate, something new. With neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and scorned and rejected by her kin Circe is increasingly isolated. Turning to mortals for companionship, she risks defying her father for love, a path that leads her not to the marriage bed but to a discovery of a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

Banished by Zeus to the remote island of Aiaia, Circe refines her craft, fate entwining her with legends: the messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home. As her power increases and her knowledge grows, so Circe must make the ultimate choice: to decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

A source of fascination for ancient writers from Homer to Ovid, Circe is a character whose story is steeped in magic and mystery. Caught up in the story of heroes, she is a figure apart, a player in the lives of heroes and gods but one who has never commanded her own story, until now.

From the imaginative power that summoned Orange Prize-winning global bestseller The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller returns with an electrifying take on Greek Myth’s most misunderstood deity. From her tale Miller spins a story of antiquity’s wildest rebel girl, a sun-god’s daughter with a human heart. One of Waterstones’ choices for our Best Books to Look Out for in April, booksellers and customers alike have been swept up by this moving, exuberant novel, translating the male-centred fantasies of myth into something startlingly feminine, real and awake.

“Circe has really set the standard for fiction publishing this year, both in terms of Miller’s exquisite writing and Bloomsbury’s beautiful production values. Miller has breathed new life into the Greek myths, putting a welcome feminist spin on old narratives: it is a thoroughly modern and pertinent retelling by a master storyteller.” – Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Fiction Buyer

The welcoming and inclusive, yet to be named book readers group, meets in Waterstones, in Cardiff, to discuss the monthly chosen read. They have met on and off for some time and I have included the Twitter handles of the members who I am aware of at the moment, which I will happily edit if anyone can enlighten me on others.

A lovely and very inclusive group which democratically chooses the following meeting’s read, it’s a lovely opportunity to meet and discuss good books which we have read and focus on one in particular.

This month’s choice was ‘‘Circe’ by Madeline Miller‘ and it was absolutely a book which people had very strong opinions about.

The following is my individual opinion, what I loved was that even when other readers did not necessarily enjoy it, all thoughts were listened to respectfully and were taken on board, there was no shouting down of the kind that so frequently happens on the web.

The way that the book is written is very ornate and poetic, it explores the nature of humanity, the ties we have to ancient myths and legends as well as the enduring love for their retelling.

As a reader, I found it equisitely written, and you don’t need to have read much of Greek myths in order to find it accessible, readable and engaging.

Circe’s tale is a first person narrative which immediately brings you close to her story. She is the daughter of Helios, and a sea nymph, daughter of Oceanos who is marked out as different from her very birth. Her early experiences leave her feeling isolated and turning her attention to the affairs of humans.

Meeting Prometheus seems to light a spark within her about the unfairness of gods living an immortal life whilst humans are doomed to age and die. This is really driven home when she falls in love with Glaucos and sees him beome infirm and weak. She begs her mother to intervene but is told that her lot in life is set, fairness towards humans doesn’t come into it. There is a reason for there being an ‘us’ and a ‘them’.

Undeterred , she uses herbs and roots to ‘heal’ Glaucos who then becomes a godlike mermaid and swiftly abandons her.

The gods and nymphs all believe that the Fates have decreed this to happen, and depsite Circe admitting that she did this, no one believes that she really has any powers, She was born to be married off, she is a construct and consequence of her parent’s marriage and never seen as a real person, so is constantly having to fight to be heard.

Her conflict between her essential nature and her love for humans ends up increasing the negative attention coming her way from high on Olympus until she is eventually exiled. But even in exile she is not left alone…

The only person who listens to her without prejudice is her brother Aaetes, her is her constant companion from his birth and appears to be the only one who did not judge her looks or her skills with herbs.

Swiftly owning her witchcraft, she continues to weave in and out of Greek mythology which may not strictly accurate in terms of what we think we know of them from soures such as ‘The Odyssey’.

However, when the writing is this lushly formed and passionately delivered, does it really matter?

To this reader it did not, I loved the decriptions, the monsters created and destroyed, the sheer humanity that was brought to bear in such a wide ranging and ambitiously creative novel. It was obviously a labour of love to write.

Next month we are reading, after choosing it democratically, ‘The Immortalists’ by Chloe Benjamin

About the author…

Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She also studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches and writes. ‘The Song of Achilles’ was her first novel