The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Condition: great

GREECE IN THE AGE OF HEROES A TALE OF GODS AND KINGS, IMMORTAL FAME AND THE HUMAN HEART

Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to Phthia to live in the shadow of King Peleus and his strong, beautiful son, Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something far deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.

Then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped.

Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

'A startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Troian War and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down Ann Patchett, Orange Prize-winning author of Bel Canto

Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories' Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room

'A real page-turner ... Gripping and vividly told' Charles Palliser, author of The Quincunx