Circe

　　英國柑橘文學獎得主、暢銷作《阿基里斯之歌》作者最新力作
　　《Circe》榮獲《衛報》、《獨立報》評為 2018 年必讀書籍！

　　Circe 是太陽神赫利奧斯（Helios）與水神之女珀耳塞（Perse）之女，但 Circe 不像父親一樣強大，也不像母親具有誘惑力。越來越孤立的她開始向凡人尋求溫暖，從而讓她發現了神禁止接觸的領域：巫術。因為愛，驅使 Circe 施放了黑暗咒語，但這卻惹怒了天神宙斯，將 Circe 放逐到孤島埃埃亞（Aeaea）上。

　　在孤島上，Circe 從大自然獲取力量，學會控制她的巫術。但她並非總是孤獨一人，許多人經過 Circe 棲身的孤島，與 Circe 的命運纏繞在一起。

　　但遺世獨立的 Circe 卻在不知不覺中引起了男人與奧林匹斯山諸神的憤怒，這次，為了保護她所愛的一切，她必須集合她所有的力量，並下定決心，選擇自己要投向她所出身的神界，還是她所喜愛的人類……。

　　《Circe》是一部跨越千年的史詩，將迷人的女性帶到最前線，而非聚焦在希臘神話一貫注重的英雄身上。Circe 對人類的迷戀成為這本書的精髓，並提供了令讀者興奮的結局。（文 / 博客來編譯）

　　From the Orange Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author of The Song of Achilles comes the powerful story of the mythological witch Circe, inspired by Homer’s Odyssey

　　Chosen as must-read book of 2018 by the Guardian, Independent, Mail on Sunday, Sunday Express and Stylist

　　In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

　　When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe’s place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

　　There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe’s independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

　　Breathing life into the ancient world, Madeline Miller weaves an intoxicating tale of gods and heroes, magic and monsters, survival and transformation.

Review

　　A novel to be gobbled greedily in a single sitting (Observer)

　　Circe is poised to become the literary sensation of the summer, as much for the quality of its writing as its timeliness (Sunday Times Magazine)

　　Enough magic, enchantment, voyages and wonders to satisfy the most jaded sword-and-sorcery palate. Miller approaches Odysseus's story from Circe's point of view, richly evoking her protagonist's overlapping identities as goddess, witch, lover and mother (Adam Roberts Guardian, Books of the Year)

　　A triumph (The Times, Books of the Year)

　　Circe back as superwoman . Homer's witch get a kickass modern makeover. Miller's Me Too-era, kickass portrait of a woman trying to defy the men and Fates arrayed against her is enchanting. Blisteringly modern (The Times)

　　In a thrilling tour de force of imagination, Miller makes her otherworldly heroine a complex, sympathetic figure for whom we cheer throughout. Circe is a truly spellbinding novel, the mesmerising shimmer of ancient magic rising from it like a heat haze (Mail on Sunday)

　　A brilliantly strange work of mythic science fiction, as effortlessly expressive within the palaces of gods as it is about the world below . Superb . This is both a fabulous novel and a fascinating retelling; the best compliment, perhaps, that any myth could hope for (Daily Telegraph)

　　This year's novels were filled with the angry clamour of women's voices: ignored, idealistic or excitingly ambivalent. Madeline Miller reflected the mood for feminist revisionism with her lissom follow-up Circe, which casts the witch goddess in the Odyssey not as a bit player in a man's epic but as the star of her own show (Claire Allfree Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year)

　　It was a big year for creative retelling of myth and pre-modern literature; a favourite was Madeline Miller's Circe, a distinctive, lyrical novel about power, agency and reponsibility, from the point of view of this crafty, much-misunderstood goddess (Emily Wilson Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year)

　　The writing is lovely, the tone assured, and the touch just right (Alexander McCall Smith Independent, Books of the Year)

　　Book Description

　　The captivating Sunday Times top ten and New York Times number one bestseller by the Orange Prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles; 'spellbinding . a thrilling tour de force' (Mail on Sunday)
 

More about the author

Madleine Miller

　　Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She also studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches and writes. The Song of Achilles is her first novel.