Cambridge Edition March 2019

BOOK CLUB

CAMBRIDGE EDI T ION Boo k Clu b BRINGING YOU TOP NEW FICTION PICKS, AUTHOR INTERVIEWS, DISCOUNTS AND LOTS MORE BOOK CHAT, THE EDITION BOOK CLUB IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH CAMBRIDGE LITERARY FESTIVAL AND HEFFERS

CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER INTERVIEW BY CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS THIS MONTH’S BOOK CHOICE IS A MODERN RETELLING OF THE STORY OF CIRCE, THE SORCERESS WHO BEWITCHES ODYSSEUS IN HOMER’S ODYSSEY W hether it’s Neil Gaiman’s gods navigating modern life in America, or Thor and Loki swooping into history, the demigod sorceress Circe, best known for her appearance in Homer’s Odyssey where she bewitches the travelling Odysseus and turns his sailors powerful protagonist who you simply can’t look away from – and a stunning book that you never want to finish. Despite the sorcery, and being set in

action alongside their fellow Avengers on the big screen, it sometimes feels like these days you can’t turn a corner without bumping into a character from ancient myth, rebooted and retold for contemporary audiences. Madeline Miller’s latest work Circe brings us a revised hero from classical

into pigs. Following in the footsteps of Miller’s debut novel Song of Achilles , which won the Orange prize and saw the American high-school teacher receive well-deserved international acclaim, Miller’s tale follows this fascinating woman more closely, filling in the gaps to create a fully-rounded, believable and

ancient Greece, in the world of cruel gods playing with the lives of mortals, Circe’s hopes, fears and struggles feel deeply familiar and extremely human. “I think that’s part of what makes myths so appealing: they speak to those huge feelings that we have always had, throughout history,” Miller says via u

33

C A M B S E D I T I O N . C O . U K

M A R C H 2 0 1 9

Powered by