BOOK OF THE WEEK

CIRCE

by Madeleine Miller Bloomsbury, £16.99 (ebook £14.99) ★★★★★

CIRCE is Titan royalty, the daughter of the Sun god Helios and the nymph Perse.

Through her lonely childhood in her father’s palace, overshadowed by her more successful siblings; to her eternity of exile on a remote island, the character of Circe is brought fully to life.

Circe is banished for using magic and mixing with mortals, and on the island she

her life, while Kate, 26, has just moved to the city and is struggling to latch on to any semblance of community.

When Kate’s day job as a junior reporter on the local paper sees her covering the lido’s imminent closure and redevelopment, she and Rosemary strike up a friendship, and battle the developers together.

The ideas are heart-warming grows stronger, develops her gift for sorcery and her fascination with mortals continues.

This is a gorgeous retelling of Homer’s Odyssey blended with other legends. Miller creates a magical narrative: strong relatable characters, cold-hearted gods, flawed heroes, deadly monsters, and best of all, a strong female protagonist.

Overall, it is fabulously readable.

and sincere – a community pulling together, overcoming loneliness no matter your age, the impact of exercise on mental health – but the language often comes off as a saccharine, and the plot points sentimental, absent of any suspense or surprise.

The potential is there, and it may make for a pleasant beach read, but The Lido ultimately flounders.