Review
`Many thanks for sending me Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. I found it a real page-turner. It's a gripping narrative and vividly told. The fighting is very well described and that's hard to pull off. It's also an interesting take on Homer and the author obviously knows the poem and the period. I'm sure it will be a huge success.' --Charles Palliser
'Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories.'
--Emma Donoghue - author of no 1 bestseller ROOM
`I so much enjoyed The Song of Achilles. I kept harking backing to the years I spent reading Homer in the original Greek for Classical Honour Moderations at Oxford! If I had read the Song of A before or during that time, that whole mighty effort would have been transformed into something much more meaningful. I am not sure I even worked out, back in 1959, that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers! Now I feel that I know almost everything there is to know!' --Stanley Johnson
"The Song of Achilles is at once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Trojan war and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down." --Ann Patchett
"The Iliad turns on Achilles' pride and his relationship with Patroclus, but Homer is sparing with the personal--so much so that, though we believe in their friendship, we do not understand it. The Song of Achilles brings light to their love. This is a beautiful book." --Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey
`To rewrite Homer's Iliad as a modern novel was a bold move - but it has paid off superbly. I read this book awestruck with admiration for the quality of its writing, its narrative pace and its imaginative depth. 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.'
--A.N. Wilson
'I loved the book. The language was timeless, the historical details were slipped in perfectly. I hope Song of Achilles becomes part of the high school summer reading lists alongside Penelopiad.'
----Helen Simonson
'Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories.'
--Emma Donoghue - author of no 1 bestseller ROOM
`I so much enjoyed The Song of Achilles. I kept harking backing to the years I spent reading Homer in the original Greek for Classical Honour Moderations at Oxford! If I had read the Song of A before or during that time, that whole mighty effort would have been transformed into something much more meaningful. I am not sure I even worked out, back in 1959, that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers! Now I feel that I know almost everything there is to know!' --Stanley Johnson
"The Song of Achilles is at once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Trojan war and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down." --Ann Patchett
"The Iliad turns on Achilles' pride and his relationship with Patroclus, but Homer is sparing with the personal--so much so that, though we believe in their friendship, we do not understand it. The Song of Achilles brings light to their love. This is a beautiful book." --Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey
`To rewrite Homer's Iliad as a modern novel was a bold move - but it has paid off superbly. I read this book awestruck with admiration for the quality of its writing, its narrative pace and its imaginative depth. 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.'
--A.N. Wilson
'I loved the book. The language was timeless, the historical details were slipped in perfectly. I hope Song of Achilles becomes part of the high school summer reading lists alongside Penelopiad.'
----Helen Simonson
Product Description
Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. Achilles, 'best of all the Greeks', is everything Patroclus is not - strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess - and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative companionship gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel and deathly pale sea goddess with a hatred of mortals. Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War 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.
About the Author
Madeline Miller has a BA and MA from Brown University in Latin and Ancient Greek, and has been teaching both for the past nine years. She has also studied at the Yale School of Drama, specialising in adapting classical tales to a modern audience. The Song of Achilles is her first novel.
