Circe: A Novel

 Circe: A Novel by Madeline Miller  383 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

And here's what I thought: I don't usually pick up stories of mythology, even though I have a basic knowledge of many of the stories or main gods and goddesses. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, which I read for a book group meeting, and wound up really enjoying it. Circe is introduced in the story as basically a nobody -- her mother is pretty awful and her father's no prize and neither of them have any interest in her. She's not beautiful and she doesn't seem to have any powers at all, so she's seen as dull, uninteresting and a waste of space. That is, until Circe changes Scylla, a nymph, into a horrible creature.  Banished to an island by her father, Circe pursues knowledge and the art of spellcasting via nature. Because, she actually does have some powers and as time goes on, she grows stronger and stronger.  And that whole story about how she turns men into pigs? Yes, yes, she does that.

Over time, Circe has encounters with other familiar figures from mythology (see the summary). But the story here is all hers and her journey from outcast to survivor, complete with self-discovery, vengeance, forgiveness, and a bit of love.  The focus on nature and plant magic was interesting and I felt Circe was a fully rounded character. She's interesting, she has flaws, and she has some pretty insightful comments about her family and the gods in general.  This isn't a book I would have discovered on my own, so I'm glad I read it for the book discussion because I wound up really enjoying it.