Circe: The No. 1 Bestseller from the author of The Song of Achilles (Bloomsbury Publishing) - Softcover

Miller, Madeline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408890046 ISBN 13: 9781408890042

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019

Woman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE.

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she hones her occult craft, casting spells, gathering strange herbs and taming wild beasts. Yet a woman who stands alone will never be left in peace for long - and among her island's guests is an unexpected visitor: the mortal Odysseus, for whom Circe will risk everything.

So Circe sets forth her tale, a vivid, mesmerizing epic of family rivalry, love and loss - the defiant, inextinguishable song of woman burning hot and bright through the darkness of a man's world.

THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, I PAPER, SUNDAY EXPRESS, IRISH TIMES, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, AMAZON, AUDIBLE, BUZZFEED, REFINERY 29, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, SEATTLE TIMES, TIME MAGAZINE, NEWSWEEK, PEOPLE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, KIRKUS, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND GOODREADS

About this title

Review:

A novel to be gobbled greedily in a single sitting (Observer)

Circe is poised to become the literary sensation of the summer, as much for the quality of its writing as its timeliness (Sunday Times Magazine)

Enough magic, enchantment, voyages and wonders to satisfy the most jaded sword-and-sorcery palate. Miller approaches Odysseus's story from Circe's point of view, richly evoking her protagonist's overlapping identities as goddess, witch, lover and mother (Adam Roberts Guardian, Books of the Year)

A triumph (The Times, Books of the Year)

Circe back as superwoman . Homer's witch get a kickass modern makeover. Miller's Me Too-era, kickass portrait of a woman trying to defy the men and Fates arrayed against her is enchanting. Blisteringly modern (The Times)

In a thrilling tour de force of imagination, Miller makes her otherworldly heroine a complex, sympathetic figure for whom we cheer throughout. Circe is a truly spellbinding novel, the mesmerising shimmer of ancient magic rising from it like a heat haze (Mail on Sunday)

A brilliantly strange work of mythic science fiction, as effortlessly expressive within the palaces of gods as it is about the world below . Superb . This is both a fabulous novel and a fascinating retelling; the best compliment, perhaps, that any myth could hope for (Daily Telegraph)

This year's novels were filled with the angry clamour of women's voices: ignored, idealistic or excitingly ambivalent. Madeline Miller reflected the mood for feminist revisionism with her lissom follow-up Circe, which casts the witch goddess in the Odyssey not as a bit player in a man's epic but as the star of her own show (Claire Allfree Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year)

It was a big year for creative retelling of myth and pre-modern literature; a favourite was Madeline Miller's Circe, a distinctive, lyrical novel about power, agency and reponsibility, from the point of view of this crafty, much-misunderstood goddess (Emily Wilson Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year)

The writing is lovely, the tone assured, and the touch just right (Alexander McCall Smith Independent, Books of the Year)

Book Description:

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019

The captivating Sunday Times top ten and New York Times number one bestseller by the Orange Prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles; 'spellbinding . a thrilling tour de force' (Mail on Sunday)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1408890046
• ISBN 13: 9781408890042
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352