Ancestor, The [Paperback]

Karen Dale Wolman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

Maria Antonia is a young writer haunted by frightening dreams she calls night visions. She grew up believing she was Mexican and Aztec, but in the dreams she hears the spirit of her dead grandmother calling to her in a language she can recognize but not name. Here begins Maria Antonia¿s journey to uncover the past and reveal the truths of the mysterious matriarchal lineage that is her heritage. As she searches, Maria Antonia is haunted by people who aren't quite dead, a character in her book who becomes real, stories that write themselves, a blind puppy that does not grow and a mountain cabin in Mexico that is both a setting in her book and the original house of her ancestors. Maria Antonia and her lover, a Greek painter named Elena, journey from their beach house in a seaside haven in Northern California to Mexico, Greece, and back to Mexico again, drawn to cliffs and caves and the ever present sea until she finds her own truths and discovers that the impossible can be real. Through a mystical exploration of truth, reality and what is possible, the pages weave narrative and myth for a provocative and compelling read. A tapestry of magical realism, legend and self-discovery, The Ancestor takes us on the journey of a young woman discovering who she really is and how much she will let the past define her.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen Dale Wolman’s first book, Rites of First Blood, went into local best seller status two days after its release and went on to become the first lesbian novel to be excerpted internationally. Her short stories appear in Girlfriends, Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly, Lesbian Bedtime Stories, Dykescapes: Short Fiction by Lesbians, Actor's Book of Monologues for Women, Bad Attitude, Silverleaf's Choice: an Anthology of Lesbian Humor and many other publications. Her awards include first prize in the Ibelle Literary Competition, a writing residency from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, recognition from the Florida State Arts Council and two fellowships from the University of Southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: FM Publications (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971429804
• ISBN-13: 978-0971429802
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,458,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, March 19, 2002

By 

abba (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancestor, The (Paperback)

If you want a mystical book that's not a total fantasy, read this book. In the story, a dead grandmother talks to a woman in her dreams. When the woman, Maria Antonia, realizes that her grandmother is only reaching out to her because she has something important to tell her, she has to let go of her secular belief system and allow her grandmother's spirit to guide her on a physicial and spiritual journal. The book goes back and forth between the reality we all know and another reality where spirits talk and book characters become guides in the tangible world. The book goes back several generations and includes myths of Maria Antonia's heritage, a very unusual matriarchial line. Maria Antonia is a writer and her lover a painter, so the book also explores the life of artists. Just when you think you know what's going on, there's a twist in the plot that makes you stay up to read the book and be late for work in the morning.