Book review: Circe, by Madeline Miller, Little, Brown and Company

Circe is a goddess of Greek mythology, the daughter of Helios, god of the sun. She has the power of witchcraft – the ability to transform her enemies into animals with the help of herbs and spells.
Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles, another novel based on Greek mythology that won the Orange Prize, has taken Circe’s mythology and turned her into the central character in an epic novel.
Early on, Circe is banished to a deserted island, where she lives with animals as her only company. Miller adeptly weaves together various Green myths to create the story of Circe. Readers are fortunate to encounter characters like Hermes, Zeus, the Minotaur, Icarus and Odysseus in this story of loneliness, love and loss.
I’m a sucker for anything to do with Greek mythology and although this book sat on my shelf for more than a year waiting for me to crack it, once I did, I devoured it. There’s non-stop action, coupled with universal archetypes and the literary deliciousness that all myths embody.
When the familiar stories come along, it’s as though we’ve heard them 1,000 times before, but with each storyteller comes a new twist, a deeper understanding.
Miller is skilled at such twists and insights. Her Circe is a force on Earth and a character worth knowing.
I haven’t read The Song of Achilles, but it’s now high on my list.
Tracy.sherlock@gmail.com

Mini book review: The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett, HarperCollins

This is a story of a brother, Danny, and his sister, Maeve, and the unbreakable bond between them. Ann Patchett is such a gifted writer that readers will find their own familial relationships reflected here, without consciously realizing the similarities.
There’s an absentee parent, a cold step-parent, a loving father who is fundamentally flawed, a man who sort of lets life happen to him rather than making any of his own choices and a woman who is strong, but alone and stoic.
How they relate to each other is what makes this novel the success it is. The house itself – although central – is really irrelevant. Readers will travel with Danny and Maude through childhood, the teen years and well into adulthood.
The Dutch House has been lauded by many and is a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Patchett has written seven novels and three non-fiction books. As always, in The Dutch House, she is both funny and touching, sentimental but wry. Readers won’t go wrong with this one.
Tracy.sherlock@gmail.com