Circe by Madeline Miller
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
Thanks to my fellow book lover sister in law Melinda for recommending this read!
I totally ❤️❤️❤️❤️d it!
Here is the 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–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.”
This book was an epic, mystical escape of grand imagination.
So interesting to imagine what it would be like to be an immortal goddess with a lifetime spanning endlessly….never aging, never dying….experiencing loss and love and jealousy and so many other things over and over and OVER again.
Circe still struggles with many things us mortals deal with: doubt, fear, anger, exclusion, loneliness, excitement, joy.
Also interesting to hear the comparison in the way mortals view birth, life, and death compared to the gods.
This book wasn’t only a great fictional fantasy story but also a lesson in Greek mythology as well. (In fact it brought back memories of one of my favorite high school electives on the very topic!)
Two very big thumbs up on this one y’all!