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The Song of Achilles book cover
Fantasy · Melancholic

Exiled Patroclus meets Achilles, son of a sea nymph, in Phthia, and their friendship grows

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

2011416 pagesModerate readSteady pace
★ Women's Prize for Fiction, 2012

The Trojan War told by Patroclus, the exiled boy who befriends Achilles

Patroclus, son of King Menoetius, tells the story. After he accidentally kills a nobleman's son who attacked him, he is exiled to Phthia. There he meets Achilles, son of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, and the two become close friends. Over time Patroclus's feelings for Achilles grow. The novel draws on Homer's Iliad and other classical sources, and Ecco published it on September 20, 2011.

More about this book

Who

Patroclus, who narrates, and Achilles.

World

The Greek Heroic Age and the Trojan War.

What makes it different

It retells the Iliad's story from Patroclus's point of view. It is Miller's debut.

Feel

Tender and tragic.

See it on Amazon

Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition

Further reading

About the author

Madeline Miller1 book on Tori Books