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Tracy Mumford

An immortal goddess gets her due

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'Circe' by Madeline Miller
'Circe' by Madeline Miller
Courtesy of publisher

Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke with Stephanie Schindhelm from Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo.

Circe is perhaps the world's oldest sorceress, but until now, she was only a bit player in the story of Odysseus.

Bookseller Stephanie Schindhelm recommends Madeline Miller's novel, "Circe," because it puts an end to that.

If your memory of "The Odyssey" is rusty, or it never landed on your syllabi, Odysseus and his men wash up on the shores of Circe's island during their oh-so-long-journey. She promptly turns all his men into pigs, and Odysseus must convince her to reverse the spell.

Miller's "Circe" expands her story far beyond that. It starts "from the moment she's born, on and on for thousands of years, because she's an immortal goddess and she lives forever," Schindhelm said.

"Fairly early in the book, she discovers that she has witch-like powers and can actually transform other gods. Because of that, she is banished to an island, which is really where the meat of the story takes place. It's where she deals with being alone and working hard to develop her power, with the occasional people coming through her island.

"Miller does a fantastic job of making an immortal goddess very relatable. ... She has an obsession with humanity and with humans and with the mortal realms. She comes to really have more of a connection with mortals than she does with other gods and goddesses."

Schindhelm says her store's staff book club all devoured the book. "Our meeting was just all gushing about what an amazing character she was, and how impressive it was that Madeline Miller could write an immortal character who is so relatable."

Circe Circe