Ms. Hen reviews Circe

Circe

Madeline Miller

Back Bay Books

2018

Ms. Hen decided to read this because her hen sister gave it to her for Christmas. She didn't know anything about the book before she read it, but she learned it was about the Greek goddess Circe. Ms. Hen thinks her sister bought this book because the title is the name of a character in GAME OF THRONES, Cercei.

This novel is about the minor goddess Circe, daughter of Helios, the Sun and Perse. She is not well liked as a young goddess because everyone thinks she has a terrible voice and is unattractive. She does not get along with her siblings Perses and Pasiphae and they like to mock her. She befriends her brother Aeetes, and they spend time together when they are young. The gods and goddess think that Circe is ugly and she does not attract men. She is desperate for love, and she falls for a mortal fisherman, who she turns into a god with magic. He decides he does not want her, and she transforms the object of his affection into a monster. She is banned to an island for these deeds, and perfects her magic there.

Circe is lonely on her island, but people come to her. She learns things from the god Hermes, and she turns sailors who come to the island into pigs. She is unhappy, but she manages things. She learns how to use the herbs that grow on her island to do spells. She becomes known as the witch of Aiaia. She faces one of the strongest gods and proves her worth.

Ms. Hen enjoyed this novel. It's a fast read, and she breezed through it, even though it's long. The characters are well developed and the writing is lovely and descriptive. Ms. Hen doesn't know a lot about the Greek gods and goddesses, because there's so much to learn; she only knows the tip of the iceberg. 

She thinks that the gods are rotten to each other, that they're not nice, and it seemed to her at the beginning of the novel when Circe was on Oceanos with her family, that the gods had too much time on their hands, they had all of eternity with nothing to do except have fun and act frivolously, and that could be why they were so horrible.

Ms. Hen read about Circe after she finished the book. There have been many books about Circe throughout the centuries, and all of them have been different. But most of the time, she is seen as a temptress and a person who could turn men into animals.

Ms. Hen loved this novel. She believes that the message clearly describes the story of Circe. She thinks this is a girl power novel, because Circe was a loser, but she fought against it, and prevailed. This novel proves that it's possible that anyone who is viewed as inferior can rise above and become as strong and powerful as anyone else.