Madeline Miller is an American writer, author of two novels: The Song of Achilles (2011) and Circe (2018). Her works, both New York Times bestsellers, draw inspiration from Greek texts, particularly Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
Born in Boston in 1978, Miller studied at Brown University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s in classics. After pursuing additional study at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought and the dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, Miller taught and tutored in Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare. Her first novel, The Song of Achilles, was written over 10 years, inspired by her experiences directing and teaching theatrical works, as well as her childhood fascination with the character of Patroclus. The novel won the Orange Prize for Literature, making Miller the fourth debut author to win the prize. Miller continued with her second novel, Circe (2018), which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.
Miller cites a variety of influences in her writing, including David Mitchell, Lorrie Moore, Aeschylus, Ovid, and Virgil. She lives outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In Circe (2018), American author Madeline Miller tells the story of Homer's The Odyssey from the point of view of the eponymous Circe. Although Circe is a relatively strange and abnormal child - she's neither pretty like her mother nor powerful...
Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles is a novel adaptation of Homer’s Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend and lover, from their time as young princes to Achilles’ ultimate death in the climactic battle of the Trojan...
