Eleanor Porter has lectured at universities in England and Hong Kong and her poetry and short fiction has been published in magazines.The Wheelwrights Daughter – her historical fiction debut set in Elizabethan England – was published last month.
At the Guardian, Porter tagged ten top books and stories books about witch-hunts, stories that show how societies in turmoil turn on the most vulnerable. One title on the list:
Circe by Madeline MillerRead about another entry on the list.
I thought I knew the story of the witch who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs, but Miller’s magnificent novel gives Circe her own epic. A daughter of the sun, she is banished to Aiaia where, part-god, part-herbalist, she teaches herself magic. She needs it, for it’s not only men who threaten: the gods, too, can be witch-hunters. The writing shimmers and figures including Daedalus and Odysseus are threaded beautifully into Circe’s story as she learns not only sorcery but love, and what it might mean to be mortal.
Circe is among Emily B. Martin's six stunning fantasies for nature lovers, Allison Pataki's top six books that feature strong female voices, Pam Grossman's thirteen stories about strong women with magical powers, Kris Waldherr's nine top books inspired by mythology, Katharine Duckett's eight novels that reexamine literature from the margins, and Steph Posts' thirteen top novels set in the world of myth.
--Marshal Zeringue
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