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The Song of Achilles |
Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, Madeline Miller’s new rendering of the epic Trojan War, The Song of Achilles, is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart. The book has been widely praised: Donna Tartt in The Times called it ‘A captivating retelling of the Iliad and events leading up to it through the point of view of Patroclus: it’s a hard book to put down, and any classicist will be enthralled by her characterisation of the goddess Thetis, which carries the true savagery and chill of antiquity’; Emma Donaghue, author of number one bestseller Room, said ‘Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories’; and AN Wilson said ‘If I were to give a prize for the best work of fiction I’ve read this year, this would be the runaway winner. As a first novel, it heralds the arrival of a major new talent.’ It is winner of the Orange prize 2012.
Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. 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. Visit her website at www.madelinemiller.com.
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