The Iliad and the Odyssey are incredible collections of tales of wit, bravery, courage but also murder, deception and greed. Have you read either of these and wondered about the backstory of the characters who flitted on then off scenes between the pages? More specifically, did you read of Odysseus visiting Circe and wondered more …

This begins–no, it doesn’t even begin, it’s epigraphed–with a hymn to the divine twins, Artemis and Apollo. There are three ways to my heart. One is pizza. One is being my husband. The third is mythology. Especially well-researched mythology, so I may have done a little happy dance before I even got to page one. …