Review: Circe by Madeline Miller

The golden eyes of Helios, the sun-god, have been caught by the beautiful naiad, Perse. Yet before allowing him the pleasure of taking her to his bed, Perse extracts from the god a promise of marriage. Thus, as wife to a great Titan, Perse gave life to four children. The eldest child, daughter Circe, seemed unremarkable and dull against her shining siblings. Circe lacked the grace of the nymphs of her line, and the powers of the gods. Shunned by her family, she nevertheless endured, shrouded in the shadows of her father’s great hall.

While she lacked the skills and powers of her parents, Circe’s desperation and isolation lead her to a craft feared even by the gods; witchcraft. Casting her first spells also cast her fate, and Circe was exiled, destined to fade into obscurity and suffer her loneliness. Despite this, her freedom from her family allowed her to test her powers and grasp greatness in her own hands.

There is an undeniable talent in taking a story as old as any of the Greek myths and breathing life into it to tell it anew. Circe’s history is obscure and shadowed by the achievements and tales of others; indeed, she is best known as the witch that turned Odysseus’ men into pigs. However, Madeline Miller provides Circe with tales of her own – she is now the creator of stories as multifaceted and rich as all the jewels in Olympus. Here is a witch who defied the gods, embraced love, and steered her own fate in every endeavor.

Circe is a love story to the ignored; the forgotten. It encapsulates the immense power of myths – the drama, the anger and the impossible feats and journeys, while ensuring that our protagonist appears more real than any of her contemporaries. Miller’s narrative all but leaps off the page to take the hand of the reader and guide us through ancient history. Circe is an old myth recast in a stylish, contemporary shell, and begs to be read. This story is a gift for any refused to explore the ancient tales of mythology. You have only to pick up the book, and by Miller’s hand, Circe will do the rest. An old world discovered anew beckons; come.

Circe by Madeline Miller is published by Bloomsbury, and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.