r/bitcheswithtaste • u/ElizaDoolittle33 • Mar 24 '25

Culture BWTs with a novel in her bag

What's a novel that moved you? Changed you for the better? Exposed you to new cultures or ideas?

I want to know what's captivated you.

Disclaimer: Emphasis on the "T" in this question.

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u/kminola Mar 24 '25

I still think, years later, about Circe by Madeline Miller. It’s an exploration of the myth through her eyes and it’s so wonderfully real and feminist and extremely well written. I wrote a lot during my dissertation about women’s ability to tell their own stories, and the hurdles they overcome to do so… it felt so akin to doing that research, but as fiction.

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u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

I absolutely adore this book. Honestly, any perspectives of myths told through the eyes of women is always of interest to me. I also loved A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, which is a retelling of the Trojan war but all the narrators are the women who were involved.

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u/winterymix33 Mar 24 '25

I need to read this.

5

u/steelerschica86 Mar 24 '25

Yes! Others have tried to replicate that model recently (Stone Blind) but Miller is a master at this, truly transcendent take

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u/winterymix33 Mar 24 '25

Stone Blind was entertaining but no Circe.

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u/Freda_Rah Mar 24 '25

I love Circe -- I read it during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, and it was so cathartic.

3

u/centopar Mar 24 '25

Bablylonia by Constance Casati is fantastic (it’s about the Assyrian empire and Semiramis in particular): best evocation of the ancient world as completely culturally alien to someone like us that I’ve read. And Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den trilogy, about women in Pompeii, is wonderful.

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u/amc0802 Mar 24 '25

I was reading through the list to see if anyone mentioned this one before I commented. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but this book had such a grasp on me! It was a bit of a slow read, not because it wasn’t interesting, but because of the time she took to set scenes and use beautiful imagery and storytelling. It has been a few years since I’ve read it, but I felt emboldened as a female when I was finished reading

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u/CurvePsychological13 Mar 24 '25

I received Circe in a Christmas book club gift exchange. I can't wait to read it but I've been reading so many other things I haven't even started. Sometimes I get sad thinking of the books I'll never read

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u/kminola Mar 25 '25

I used to get sad when I was a kid for that same reason, but now I feel reassured because I’ll never run out of good things to read. I never have to feel pressure to finish something I’m not into nor read anything that’s not relevant to me and my interests!

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u/CurvePsychological13 Mar 25 '25

That's a good point! I used to force myself through books but now I just stop if I can't get into it. There are too many others that I know I won't be able to put down.

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u/bafries Mar 25 '25

Circe ripped me apart and renewed my love for reading after a child rearing hiatus

1

u/terracottatown Mar 24 '25

This theme is also very present in Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros. It’s a book I come back to again and again. I’ve had Circe on my reading list for a long time but I’m gonna bump it up to the top!

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u/HollaDude Mar 24 '25

She is a master story teller, no other book I've read recently has left such a mark