The Song of Achilles

Miller, Madeline Madeline Miller is the author of The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012, was shortlisted for the Stonewall Writer of the Year 2012, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and was translated into twenty-five languages. Madeline holds an MA in Classics from Brown University, and she taught Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students for over a decade. She has also studied at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought, and at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. Her essays have appeared in publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Lapham's Quarterly and NPR.org. She lives outside Philadelphia. madelinemiller.com

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 -- Donna Tartt The Times Christmas Books I loved it J.K. Rowling Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories Emma Donoghue, author of number one bestseller, Room Original, clever, and in a class of its own ... an incredibly compelling and seductive read Independent on Sunday A remarkably fresh take on one of the most familiar narratives in western literature The Times Extraordinary ... Beautifully descriptive and heart-achingly lyrical, this is a love story as sensitive and intuitive as any you will find Daily Mail Sexy, dangerous, mystical Bettany Hughes 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, Reader's Digest Inventive, passionate, uplifting and different. It will appeal to all ages. It's a book which despite some of the stiffest competition in the modern world is a truly worthy winner Joanna Trollope, chair of the judges for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012

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 DONNA TARTT The Times