ICYMI: My recent review of Natalie Haynes's entertaining A Thousand Ships brought to mind this wonderful title by Madeline Miller that I adored.
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.
Circe, daughter of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, is an odd child. She's not striking and in fact, she's seemingly without power. But she grows into her glorious witchy wonder, and her abilities to transform her foes are revealed--along with her dangerous potential to threaten the gods.
When Zeus, fearful of what she might be capable of, banishes her to a deserted island, Circe perfects her witchy powers, tames beasts, considers the world and her place in it, simmers and plans, and entertains well-known figures from mythology, including Icarus, the Minotaur, Medea, and Odysseus.
We are sorry, we are sorry.
Sorry you were caught, I said. Sorry that you thought I was weak, but you were wrong.
Circe is a wonderfully faulted, curious, powerful witch. I was in for this book hook, line, and sinker.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
I mentioned Circe in the Greedy Reading List Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You, and I recently mentioned it again in my review of Natalie Haynes's A Thousand Ships, a woman-centered retelling of events surrounding the Trojan War.