If You Liked Circe

Books that are similar to Circe by Madeline Miller

Bookbot — November 16, 2024

If you enjoyed Circe, you might also enjoy other books that delve into mythology, strong female protagonists, and richly woven narratives. These stories often explore themes of power, transformation, and the complexity of human emotions.

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The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

A&C Black | Apr 12, 2012

1 |

"A retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, this novel explores the deep bond between him and Achilles during the Trojan War."

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

A&C Black, 2012

1 |

A breathtakingly original rendering of the Trojan War - a devastating love story and a tale of gods and kings, immortal fame and the human heart

The Silence of the Girls: A Novel

Pat Barker

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group | Sep 4, 2018

1 |

"This powerful novel depicts the lives of women captured during the Trojan War, highlighting their strength and resilience in a world dominated by men."

The Silence of the Girls: A Novel

Pat Barker

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2018

1 |

A Washington Post Notable Book

One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, The Economist, Financial Times

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award

Finalist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction

Here is the story of the Iliad as we’ve never heard it before: in the words of Briseis, Trojan queen and captive of Achilles. Given only a few words in Homer’s epic and largely erased by history, she is nonetheless a pivotal figure in the Trojan War. In these pages she comes fully to life: wry, watchful, forging connections among her fellow female prisoners even as she is caught between Greece’s two most powerful warriors. Her story pulls back the veil on the thousands of women who lived behind the scenes of the Greek army camp—concubines, nurses, prostitutes, the women who lay out the dead—as gods and mortals spar, and as a legendary war hurtles toward its inevitable conclusion. Brilliantly written, filled with moments of terror and beauty, The Silence of the Girls gives voice to an extraordinary woman—and makes an ancient story new again.

A Thousand Ships: A Novel

Natalie Haynes

HarperCollins Publishers | Jan 26, 2021

"A feminist retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of the women involved, highlighting their stories and struggles as the war unfolds."

A Thousand Ships: A Novel

Natalie Haynes

HarperCollins Publishers, 2021

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Gorgeous.... With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War."—Madeline Miller, author of Circe

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, a gorgeous retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the many women involved in its causes and consequences—for fans of Madeline Miller.

This is the women's war, just as much as it is the men's. They have waited long enough for their turn . . .

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

A woman's epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world's great tale ever told.

The Women of Troy: A retelling of the classic Greek myth from the author of The Silence of the Girls

Pat Barker

Penguin Books Limited | Aug 26, 2021

"A follow-up to The Silence of the Girls, this novel explores the lives of women following the fall of Troy and their fight for survival in a world dominated by men."

The Women of Troy: A retelling of the classic Greek myth from the author of The Silence of the Girls

Pat Barker

Penguin Books Limited, 2021

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Following her bestselling, critically acclaimed The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker continues her extraordinary retelling of one of our greatest myths.

'Myth for a MeToo age. Pat Barker returns to Homer in this gory but unexpectedly uplifting novel' Sunday Times

Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won their bitter war. They can return home as victors - all they need is a good wind to lift their sails. But the wind has vanished, the seas becalmed by vengeful gods, and so the warriors remain in limbo - camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed, kept company by the women they stole from it.

The women of Troy.

Helen - poor Helen. All that beauty, all that grace - and she was just a mouldy old bone for feral dogs to fight over.

Cassandra, who has learned not to be too attached to her own prophecies. They have only ever been believed when she can get a man to deliver them.

Stubborn Amina, with her gaze still fixed on the ruined towers of Troy, determined to avenge the slaughter of her king.

Hecuba, howling and clawing her cheeks on the silent shore, as if she could make her cries heard in the gloomy halls of Hades. As if she could wake the dead.

And Briseis, carrying her future in her womb: the unborn child of the dead hero Achilles. Once again caught up in the disputes of violent men. Once again faced with the chance to shape history.

Masterful and enduringly resonant, ambitious and intimate, The Women of Troy continues Pat Barker's extraordinary retelling of one of our greatest classical myths, following on from the critically acclaimed The Silence of the Girls.

'Readers turn to Barker's novels for their plain truths and clear-eyed sense of our history and creation stories. But the sombre clarity of her writing is offset by a luminous wisdom' Sunday Times

'The Women Of Troy's immediate beauty is its accessibility and Barker's precise, elegant writing' Metro

'Barker has always looked on the world with the combination of a cold eye and a sympathetic understanding. Her characterisation is sharp, her sympathy deep' ipaper

The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope & Odysseus

Margaret Atwood

Text Publishing Company | May 16, 2010

"Atwood retells the story of Odysseus's wife Penelope and her twelve maids, offering a unique perspective on loyalty, love, and betrayal."

The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope & Odysseus

Margaret Atwood

Text Publishing Company, 2010

In a splendid contemporary twist, Margaret Atwood tells Penelope's story.

In Homer's account, Penelope is the constant wife. It is she who rules Odysseus's kingdom of Ithaca during his twenty-year absence at the Trojan War. She raises their wayward son and fends off over a hundred insistent suitors. When Odysseus finally returns-having vanquished monsters, slept with goddesses and endured many other well-documented hardships-he kills the suitors and also, curiously, twelve of Penelope's maids.

Margaret Atwood tells the story through Penelope and her twelve hanged maids, asking: 'What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?' It's a dazzling, playful retelling, as wise and compassionate as it is haunting; as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing.

The Myths series gathers a diverse group of the finest writers of our time to provide a contemporary take on our most enduring myths.

'The Penelopiad shows Atwood making off with an especially well-guarded cultural treasure-and making it new, as she always does.' Independent Weekly

Ariadne: A Novel

Jennifer Saint

Flatiron Books | May 4, 2021

"A novel that brings to life the story of Ariadne, who helps Theseus navigate the Labyrinth and confronts her own fate."

Ariadne: A Novel

Jennifer Saint

Flatiron Books, 2021

A mesmerizing debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller's Circe.

Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne’s decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind?

Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

Clarissa Pinkola Estés Phd

Random House Publishing Group | Aug 22, 1995

"In this collection of myths and stories, Estés examines the wild woman archetype and the importance of reclaiming feminine strength and intuition."

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

Clarissa Pinkola Estés Phd

Random House Publishing Group, 1995

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than 2.7 million copies sold! • “A deeply spiritual book [that] honors what is tough, smart and untamed in women.”—The Washington Post Book World

Book club pick for Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf

Within every woman there lives a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. She is the Wild Woman, who represents the instinctual nature of women. But she is an endangered species. For though the gifts of wildish nature belong to us at birth, society’s attempt to “civilize” us into rigid roles has muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls.

In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés unfolds rich intercultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories, many from her own traditions, in order to help women reconnect with the fierce, healthy, visionary attributes of this instinctual nature. Through the stories and commentaries in this remarkable book, we retrieve, examine, love, and understand the Wild Woman, and hold her against our deep psyches as one who is both magic and medicine.

Dr. Estés has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul.

Norse Mythology: The Illustrated Edition

Neil Gaiman

W. W. Norton & Company | Nov 12, 2024

"Gaiman brings to life the ancient Norse myths with vivid storytelling, focusing on the complex characters of gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki."

Norse Mythology: The Illustrated Edition

Neil Gaiman

W. W. Norton & Company, 2024

The #1 New York Times bestseller—a “gripping, suspenseful” (Washington Post) retelling of Norse myths—now with spectacular illustrations.

In this dazzling, illustrated edition of the instant classic that has sold more than a million copies, award-winning illustrator Levi Pinfold brings Neil Gaiman’s bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world to life.

Bursting off the page with breathtaking, full-color art are tales of fierce battles with giants, storied quests for knowledge, and the gods in Asgard: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong, yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that takes us from the genesis of the legendary nine worlds to Ragnorak, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time. Through his epic storytelling and Pinfold’s enthralling images, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, breathing vivid life into these long-ago myths.

“Who else but Neil Gaiman could become an accomplice of the gods, using the sorcery of words to make their stories new?” —Maria Tatar, translator and editor of The Annotated Brothers Grimm

“Gaiman brings rakish mischief and severe glamour to the Norse canon.” —The New Yorker

“Remarkable. . . . Gaiman has provided an enchanting contemporary interpretation of the Viking ethos.” —Lisa L. Hannett, Atlantic

“A lively, funny and very human rendition of Thor the thunder god, his father Odin and the dark-hearted trickster Loki (plus countless other gods and monsters).” —Petra Mayer, NP

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

Stephen Fry

Penguin Books Limited | Nov 2, 2017

"Stephen Fry brings to life the fascinating myths of Ancient Greece in a witty and engaging narration that explores the gods, heroes, and epic tales of Greek mythology."

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

Stephen Fry

Penguin Books Limited, 2017

STEP INTO ANOTHER WORLD - OF MAGIC, MAYHEM, MONSTERS AND MANIACAL GODS - IN STEPHEN FRY'S MOMENTOUS SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, MYTHOS

'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times

Discover Stephen Fry's magnificent retelling of the greatest myths and legends ever told . . .

___________

No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses.

In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds.

Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.

If you're enthralled by the magic of Greek mythology you'll love Fry's latest book TROY, an exceptional retelling of our greatest story . . .

___________

NOW THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MYTHOS SUITE, STEPHEN FRY AND DEBBIE WISEMAN'S MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF FRY'S THRILLING RETELLINGS

'A head-spinning marathon of legends' Guardian

'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard

'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail

'A rollicking good read' Independent

SHORTLISTED FOR A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

The Witch's Heart

Genevieve Gornichec

Penguin | Jan 1, 2021

"This novel tells the story of Angerboda, a powerful witch and Loki's lover, as she grapples with her fate and the myths that bind her."

The Witch's Heart

Genevieve Gornichec

Penguin, 2021

When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive national bestselling debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.

Angrboda's story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she'll accept the fate that she's foreseen for her beloved family...or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.

Song of Blood & Stone: Earthsinger Chronicles, Book One

L. Penelope

St. Martin's Griffin | Jul 16, 2019

"In a world divided by magic and sectarian strife, a strong female protagonist works to bridge the gap between warring cultures through love and sacrifice."

Song of Blood & Stone: Earthsinger Chronicles, Book One

L. Penelope

St. Martin's Griffin, 2019

A TIME 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

A Time Magazine Best Fantasy Book of 2018

L. Penelope's Song of Blood & Stone is a treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.

The kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar have been separated for centuries by the Mantle, a magical veil that has enforced a tremulous peace between the two lands. But now, the Mantle is cracking and the True Father, ruler of Lagrimar and the most powerful Earthsinger in the world, finally sees a way into Elsira to seize power.

All Jasminda ever wanted was to live quietly on her farm, away from the prying eyes of those in the nearby town. Branded an outcast by the color of her skin and her gift of Earthsong, she’s been shunned all her life and has learned to steer clear from the townsfolk...until a group of Lagrimari soldiers wander into her valley with an Elsiran spy, believing they are still in Lagrimar.

Through Jack, the spy, Jasminda learns that the Mantle is weakening, allowing people to slip through without notice. And even more troubling: Lagrimar is mobilizing, and if no one finds a way to restore the Mantle, it might be too late for Elsira. Their only hope lies in uncovering the secrets of the Queen Who Sleeps and Jasminda’s Earthsong is the key to unravel them.

Thrust into a hostile society and a world she doesn’t know, Jasminda and Jack race to unveil an ancient mystery that might offer salvation.

The Bear and The Nightingale: (Winternight Trilogy)

Katherine Arden

Random House | Jan 30, 2020

"Set in medieval Russia, this tale combines folklore and magic as Vasilisa fights to preserve her family's traditions amid encroaching Christianity."

The Bear and The Nightingale: (Winternight Trilogy)

Katherine Arden

Random House, 2020

_____________________________

Beware the evil in the woods...

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods. . .

Atmospheric and enchanting, with an engrossing adventure at its core, The Bear and the Nightingale is perfect for readers of Naomi Novik's Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

_____________________________

Now with over 100 5* reviews, readers are spellbound by this magical story:

'This book stayed with me, I didn't want it to end'

'A beautifully written story'

'An entrancing story, which swept me up from the very first chapter'

'Full of magic'

_____________________________

Make sure you've read all the books in the acclaimed Winternight Trilogy

1. The Bear and the Nightingale

2. The Girl in the Tower

3. The Winter of the Witch

General 12 of 12

Title	Author	Publisher	Date
The Song of Achilles	Madeline Miller	A&C Black	2012
The Silence of the Girls	Pat Barker	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group	2018
A Thousand Ships	Natalie Haynes	HarperCollins Publishers	2021
The Women of Troy	Pat Barker	Penguin Books Limited	2021
The Penelopiad	Margaret Atwood	Text Publishing Company	2010
Ariadne	Jennifer Saint	Flatiron Books	2021
Women Who Run with the Wolves	Clarissa Pinkola Estés Phd	Random House Publishing Group	1995
Norse Mythology	Neil Gaiman	W. W. Norton & Company	2024
Mythos	Stephen Fry	Penguin Books Limited	2017
The Witch's Heart	Genevieve Gornichec	Penguin	2021
Song of Blood & Stone	L. Penelope	St. Martin's Griffin	2019
The Bear and The Nightingale	Katherine Arden	Random House	2020

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