Circe by Madeline Miller
"Day upon patient day, you must throw out your errors and begin again. So why did I not mind? Why did none of us mind? I cannot speak for my brothers and sister, but my answer is easy. For a hundred generations, I had walked the world drowsy and dull, idle and at my ease. I left no prints, I did no deeds. Even those who had loved me a little did not care to stay. Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow. I would have done that toil a thousand times to keep such power in my hands. I thought: this is how Zeus felt when he first lifted the thunderbolt." Circe, daughter of Helios and a rather pompous nymph, Perse, was born and raised in the Titans' Halls, among other rather pompous nymphs, naiads, small deities and Titans. During her slow eternity she discovers her inherent powers of witchcraft and is exiled on the island Aiaia (even though I am Greek, I still had to google how to pronounce that name), where she hones her abilitie...