The legend begins . . .

A thrilling and unique retelling of the legend of Achilles: a tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart—a dazzling feat of the imagination that is sure to be one of the most unusual debuts of the season

“Mary Renault lives again!.”—Emma Donoghue, author of Room
 

“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

At ten, Patroclus, a small, awkward prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia, to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. The “best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences and the fury of Achilles’s mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals, the boys become steadfast companions, their bond deepening as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine.