Book Review: Circe by Madeline Miller
By: Kaitlyn McMullin
"Circe" by Madeline Miller is taking a rise in popularity by the science fiction world. The book is about the goddess Circe who is born to the titan Helios who is the god of the sun and to a naiad Perse. She has three siblings, and the outcast of her family, depicted as being lesser- of having no power. However, as the story continues, she is found to live among mortals and meet countless known mythology figures she learns to master witchcraft.
Miller first wrote “The Song of Achilles” which is also a story of reimagined Greek mythology. “Circe” is the second book written by Miller released in 2018. There is not much written about the goddess Circe, so Miller decided to dedicate a whole book to the life to the witch-goddess. She was fascinated with the story of Circe since she was young after reading the Odyssey.
In the back of the book Miller says:
“Circe is a fascinating and vivid figure… I also wanted to push back against the one-dimensional way she’s been treated in pop culture.”
The book was written elegantly with much sophistication of an immortal goddess from her birth through growing up through the centuries. While it may seem to be confusing that the book flows over centuries in just a few pages, Miller’s writing is far from confusing. She has found a way to travel through the years along with Circe, she has written it in a way that flows seamlessly, without seeming as if there is any missing information.
Through the book, readers get to see Circe grow from a young girl who is powerless and often insulted from being called “stupid Circe" by her mother, or “her eyes are yellow as piss” by her siblings. She grows to become powerful and slowly growing confident throughout the book.
While Circe is a goddess, she was shown to not fit in as one of them, rather more having a fascination with mortals, yet still she did not quite fit in with mortals either. Circe allowed herself to be accompanied by being alone and taking up friends within wild animals such as a tamed lion. The book is classified as a historical/fantasy fiction, however there are traits that could align the book as a psychological fiction as well. It shows how Circe goes through psychological battles just as much as her battles she must overcome with others she meets along the way.
Millers goal was to show that Circe is “...terrifying, yes, but also benevolent.” Since so many people see “her as a villain, a man-hating seductress” she wanted to show the story of how Circe became who she is. We do learn the backstory of Circe before she became known as the seductress villain. Each event we learn of through the story leads to the understanding that Circe is not a villain she is made out to be, rather she is a strong woman “witch-goddess” who had to endure and survive many uphill battles that she overcame.