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Madeline Miller

Goodreads Author

Born

Boston, The United States

Website

http://www.madelinemiller.com/

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MillerMadeline

Genre

Historical Fiction, Fiction

Member Since

August 2012

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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 has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and 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.

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I haven't gotten to Circe yet but WOW did I love Song of Achilles. I especially love the way you took the Homeric epic with its lack of character internality and made it such an intimate, personal novel. Did you deliberate a lot on POV and/or narrator, or did you go into it knowing that it has to be through Patrocles' eyes?

Madeline Miller Thank you! And it was always going to be Patroclus. He was the one who fascinated me--the most beloved companion of Achilles, the so-called minor char…moreThank you! And it was always going to be Patroclus. He was the one who fascinated me--the most beloved companion of Achilles, the so-called minor character whose actions are the turning point of the entire Iliad. He is called "gentle" in Homer, and "kind to everyone," which makes him an outlier among the other Greek soldiers. And of course, he is the only thing that matters more to Achilles than his reputation. I wanted to understand him, and why he meant so much to Achilles. And I'm very grateful: he was a wonderful person to spend ten plus years living with. The only time I considered switching narrators was towards the end, after the---spoiler, but it is in the Iliad---fateful encounter with Hector. I briefly considered moving to Briseis, or Achilles as a narrator. But that was only for a moment. The Song of Achilles is Patroclus' book, and his voice is its heart, and he deserved to tell his story to the end.(less)

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Should I read The Odyssey before reading your new book Circe?

Madeline Miller You definitely do not have to have read the Odyssey to read Circe! It's really important to me that my novels don't require previous Greek myth knowle…moreYou definitely do not have to have read the Odyssey to read Circe! It's really important to me that my novels don't require previous Greek myth knowledge. I firmly believe that these stories are for everyone just as they are, and I work hard to try to give readers everything they need to know along the way. (Though if you do know the myths, there are some extra goodies in there!)

That said, as a classics teacher, I will never tell someone NOT to read Homer! If you do, I wholeheartedly recommend Emily Wilson's new translation, which is gripping and brilliant.(less)

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Madeline Miller’s books

Average rating: 4.3 · 2,137,707 ratings · 226,521 reviews · 28 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Song of Achilles 4.36 avg rating — 1,194,409 ratings — published 2011 — 207 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circe 4.25 avg rating — 878,250 ratings — published 2018 — 189 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Galatea 3.93 avg rating — 62,742 ratings — published 2013 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circe / The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Goodreads Author) 4.50 avg rating — 1,211 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heracles' Bow 3.15 avg rating — 306 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Song of Achilles / Circe / Galatea 4.42 avg rating — 38 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untitled #2 4.55 avg rating — 31 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untitled 3.73 avg rating — 22 ratings — expected publication 2024	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circe, Lord of the Flies (Centenary Edition) 2 Books Collection Set 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bunnies as pets: A guide to the selection, care and breeding of rabbits really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Madeline Miller…

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Madeline Miller's Blog

Events & Appearances

I’m very excited to announce some of my upcoming 2019 Circe events! More coming soon so be sure to check back. If you would like me to appear at your event please get in touch using my contact page.

July 20th-24th 2019
Sun Valley Writer’s Conference.

September 9th 2019, 7:30PM
Butler University, Visiting Writers Series
Indianapolis, IN.

September 26th-October 1st 2019
Travel Gems, Costa Navarin

Author Alice Hoffman has written dozens of novels, including the Practical Magic series, The Dovekeepers, The Marriage of Opposites,...

Polls

January 2020 Member 's Choice Book Nominations

Time to vote on our Jan Member's Choice selection. Geez! 2020 already! How can that be??!?

This poll will remain open for votes until the end of the day on Dec 19th. There are some good books to choose from, so get your vote in by Thursday.

Please note that book covers may not be as shown in the poll. Covers vary on different editions. Please go by the title and author, not the book cover.

You cannot vote from the app - you must go in thru a browser to vote. Let me know if you are unsure how to do that. I also cannot except a message telling me your choice - you must cast a vote in the poll.

Thanks and happy reading...

Red at the Bone

by Jacqueline Woodson

15 votes, 20.8%

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

by Heather Morris

11 votes, 15.3%

The Overstory

by Richard Powers

11 votes, 15.3%

We Were the Lucky Ones

by Georgia Hunter

11 votes, 15.3%

Circe

by Madeline Miller

9 votes, 12.5%

Let Him Go

by Larry Watson

5 votes, 6.9%

The It Girls

by Karen Harper

4 votes, 5.6%

Angle of Repose

by Wallace Stegner

2 votes, 2.8%

Inland

by Téa Obreht

2 votes, 2.8%

Southernmost

by Silas House

2 votes, 2.8%

72 total votes

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