Book Review:
Title: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
"It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment’s carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did."
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.