Big Read 2021: Introduction

The Big Read is a monthlong community celebration presented by Golden Isles Arts and Humanities and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. 

The community reads one book and comes together for a variety of programming -- including book talks, films, plays, lectures, and art exhibits -- reflecting the themes of the book.

This is the 14th year the Big Read has been presented in southeast coastal Georgia. 

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born.

But Circe is a strange child -- not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power -- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians.

To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.