Have you ever had the feeling that you've lived another
life? Been somewhere that has felt totally familiar even when you've
never been there before, or felt that you've known someone even though
you are meeting them for the first time? In a novel comprising seven
short stories each of them influenced by a moon - flower moon, harvest
moon, hunter's moon, blood moon - and travelling from 2073 back in time
to the dark of the moon and the days of Viking saga, this is the story
of Eric and Merle who have loved and lost one another and who have been
searching for each other ever since. In the different stories the two
appear as lovers, mother and son, brother and sister, artist and child
as they come close to finding each other before facing the ultimate
sacrifice.
This was one of my choices for book club this year, during our “Year
of Reading Fluff.” Unfortunately, I was out of the country when the
book was discussed and I just got around to reading it last night. I
enjoyed the structure of the book, it being essentially seven short
stories which weave together to provide the whole tale.
I liked the otherworldly feel of the book, beginning, as it does, in
the far future. I hadn’t re-read the blurb on the dust jacket and
hadn’t recently read reviews on the work, as I prefer to go in blind and
discover what a book is all about. I was glad that I took that
approach, as it allowed me to gradually piece together what was going
on, as I think the author intended the reader to do. I know that I did
re-assess at the beginning of the second chapter/story, going back to
read the previous chapter heading and to get my bearings. The
reincarnation aspect reminded me strongly of H. Rider Haggard’s She,
a treasured book of my childhood [I think I was the only one to sign it
out of our school’s library and I signed it out so many times that when
it was withdrawn, the librarian offered it to me. I accepted]. Add to
that some archaeology and a Viking story line, and this book was right
up my alley. As a teen or young adult, I would have been smitten. And
it took me until the next morning to realize the significance of the
first protagonist’s name, Eric Seven.
There is, necessarily, at least one death in each chapter, sometimes
bloody—but it’s rather necessary if reincarnation is to take place. If
you are squeamish about that sort of thing, this is not your book.
I vacillate between 3 and 4 four stars--make it 3.5 out of 5!
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