"Madeline Miller"

2012 · Madeline Miller · 378 pages · Literary Fiction

Madeline Miller's debut novel retells the story of Achilles through the eyes of Patroclus, and the result is one of the most emotionally devastating love stories published this century. Miller writes about the Trojan War with the authority of a classicist and the tenderness of a poet, and the relationship at the book's center is rendered with such care that its inevitable end hits like a physical blow. The supporting cast is thinner than the leads, and readers deeply familiar with the Iliad may find Miller's interpretive choices limiting. But as a novel about love, glory, and the terrible price of both, it is extraordinary.

2018 · Madeline Miller · 400 pages · Fantasy

Madeline Miller's retelling of Circe's story transforms a minor mythological figure into a fully realized woman whose journey from powerless nymph to self-determined witch feels both ancient and thoroughly modern. The prose is gorgeous without being heavy, and Miller's command of Greek mythology gives every scene the weight of something that has been told before but never quite like this. The episodic structure can make the middle section feel scattered, and readers looking for fast-paced plotting will need to adjust their expectations. But as a portrait of a woman building a life on her own terms in a world run by capricious gods, it's one of the best mythological retellings in recent memory.