This is a daring, audacious and imminently readable retelling of the story of the goddess Circe from her own point of view. While she was a relatively minor character in Greek mythology, her tale of life, love and redemption becomes something much larger in the talented hands of author Madeline Miller: a ferociously feminist tale.

Circe, who is the daughter of the god of the sun, Helios, is more than a goddess. She is also a witch, capable of creating powerful spells that she can cast on both gods and mortals. As she is just becoming aware of her powers as a witch, she casts two spells that lead Zeus to banish her forever on the deserted island of Aiaia. And "forever" is a really, really long time for a goddess, since she will never die. While Circe is stuck here, she is not living her millennia in solitude. She has visitors! Lots of them. Some are good and some are evil, but none is boring. And the parade of mortals and gods who come to Aiaia is a supremely entertaining tour through the best of the myths.

The book, like all Greek mythology, can be read on two levels. While the intriguing stories of gods and goddesses, monsters and leviathans, unspeakable violence and extreme danger, and witches and spells are fun and fascinating, they tell a deeper tale of what it means to be fully human and what it means to be fully alive.

Deftly written and ingeniously plotted with a cast of characters steeped in storytelling lore, this is a truly imaginative book to be treasured.