Priestess of Avalon - Marion Zimmerman Bradley and Diana L. Paxson

A few years ago I read The Mists of Avalon and really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this one a shot.

While Mists is more based in the fantasy/magical world of Avalon, Priestess starts off there, but is based mostly in the "real" world of the growing Roman Empire. When Elian, a young priestess, falls in love with a Roman officer, their affair leads to her banishment from Avalon. However, she believes she carries the child which will fulfill a prophecy, bringing two worlds together.

In the outside world she is Helena, and through the years she grows in power along with her husband and her son Constantine, who eventually becomes the Emperor. It is a time of great change, where Christianity is growing rapidly and Helena's own pagan beliefs in the goddess are questioned. Through her life she suffers much, but never loses her belief and her tie to Avalon, though she believes she can never go back. Eventually she discovers that although the prophecy did not play out the way she thought it would, all is not lost and new opportunities are presented.

The writing in this book is lovely, and the world of Avalon is both mystical and believable. There are historical references here, and the pagan/Christian struggle is very real. I loved Helena's character, and I deeply felt her anguish and celebrated her triumphs. The plot takes some unexpected and wrenching turns, yet in the end you can sense Helena's destiny...however, what she must to do achieve it is definitely something of extraordinary strength.

Recommended for those who enjoy something a little different now and then. You need not be a fan of the fantasy genre to enjoy this book.

Books Read in 2006

Since I started this blog just a couple of months ago, I thought I'd post a list of books I finished in 2006. Why? I've always kept a list of books I read, and I guess I'm just a nerd like that.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Lake Wobegone Summer 1956 - Garrison Keillor
Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
My Antonia - Willa Cather
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
Eventide - Kent Haruf
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
Red Azalea - Anchee Min
The Loch - Steve Alten
The Man Who Ate the 747 - Ben Sherwood
The Mineral Palace - Heidi Julavits
A Room With a View - EM Forster
Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
March - Geraldine Brooks
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
Hummingbird House - Patricia Henley
La Charette: Village Gateway to the American West - Lowell Schaake
The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant

Stats for other book nerds:
23 books totaling 6,759 pages
Average 294 pages
12 by female authors, 11 by male authors
21 fiction, 1 non-fiction, 1 memoir

Eva Luna - Isabel Allende (Book Club)

Eva Luna is name of the protagonist in this book, and her story actually begins with her mother, Consuelo, as a young girl. Consuelo's story is important because it leads us to the unique circumstances of Eva Luna's conception, how she received her name, and the strong link she had with her mother.

Tragedy strikes and Eva goes through life working as a servant in different households, paying her wages to the madrina in whose care she has been left. Her hardships are offset by her talent for telling stories, and she shares them with anyone who will listen. Her patrona goes a bit crazy and Eva runs away, and in the ensuing years her personal relationships are with those as unique as she is: a Turkish shopkeeper, a young revolutionary, a madame, a transsexual, and a young reporter and filmmaker named Rolf Carle.

Parts of the book also chronicle Rolf Carle's life as a young boy with an overbearing father, growing up in a stifling village, the boundaries of which Rolf longs to escape. He does get out, and makes a career as a controversial filmmaker, who gets deeply involved in the work of revolutionists, which leads him to Eva.

I couldn't really tell where this book was going at first, and had a difficult time staying interested. I even though of ditching it and reading something else (which I rarely do), but it was the first mention of Rolf Carle and his family that got me hooked. I do have to say that the book does weave a tale of extraordinary and sometimes unbelievable circumstances; particularly the presence of multiple sexual experiences that I wasn't sure were integral to the story itself. Not graphic descriptions by any means, but a few seemed out of place and a little farfetched...particularly Eva's encounter before leaving the village of Agua Santa.

This is one of our book club selections, but unfortunately I can't make the upcoming meeting. I will be interested to hear what other members thought of the book. Overall I believe the book was worth the read, and this strange tale may be a stroke of brilliance to some, but it wasn't really my style. The language was beautiful, but I just couldn't get into the story.