Eckerd Summer Reading Guide

Circe (2018) has been selected as Eckerd College's 2020 summer reading title, to be read in the fall by incoming students and seniors as part of the General Education program. Madeline Miller boldly retells the story of Circe, the daughter of Helios, who finds her own power through witchcraft. The thrilling story weaves Circe's encounters with many legends of mythology, with her personal journey of discovery through her many encounters with mortals. Miller's impressive use of language and rich depictions of heroes and goddesses brings these ancient stories to a new generation.

Madeline Miller attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. She has also studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. The Song of Achilles, her first novel, was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times Bestseller. Circe, was an instant number 1 New York Times bestseller, and won the Indies Choice Best Adult Fiction of the Year Award and the Indies Choice Best Audiobook of the Year Award, as well as being shortlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

“A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story that manages to be both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right.”―The New York Times

Luminous … Deft and compassionate … A compelling and engagingly feminist piece of ancient fantasy … Readers who know the source stories already will delight in the craft of Miller’s quietly revisionist amendments to these well-worn tales … But Circe is also a brilliantly strange work of mythic science fiction, as effortlessly expressive within the palaces of gods as it is about the world below … This is both a fabulous novel and a fascinating retelling; the best compliment, perhaps, that any myth could hope for”-  Daily Telegraph