Customer Reviews

The Apple and the Thorn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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I love historical fiction, although this profoundly moving novel does not fall neatly into that category. The story unfolds in the early years of the Christian Church, and depicts by turns the journey of Joseph to England with the Holy Grail, the clash between the Christians fleeing the Roman Empire and the Druids, and the Roman conquest of Britain. The book is written as an alternating first person narrative, a literary form that allows a remarkable window into the very different cultural and spiritual world views of the characters.

The imagery is lush and emotive, giving a very cinematic quality to the book. It would make a fine screen play. It also enlightens as well as telling an excellent story. I had only a very superficial understanding of Druidry prior to reading this book and now wish to know more, and see that there is no fundamental conflict between it and my own Christian faith. In the end, love allows the protagonists to resolve their conflicts as well.

This book works so well on so many levels - the intellectual, the spiritual and the sensual. The authors must be very special people indeed, and I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Red Fox in the United Kingdom and posted by William Melnyk

This is no ordinary re-telling of the Avalonian current. In fact it is not a re-telling at all, it is a telling. This book feels like it has been midwifed by the authors as the Land struggles to make Herself heard in the present age. It is a telling that is rooted deep in the land of Britain and Her mythic heart of Affalon. It feels as if the book has a spirit of its own as the authors become the Lady of Affalon and Eosaidh as the dark swirling currents of the marshland forever swirl about them and the reader. The book speaks directly to the soul and takes the reader to a reality that is timeless, a reality that is Earth born. Its the most awe inspiring work i have ever read and has left me emotionally drained. It has the truth of the Land as a living being deeply embedded in it. It speaks of love that spans the aeons and the devastation that can follow if that love is not allowed to flourish. It is a love between souls and the love that must exist between us and the Land in order for us to be true to ourselves and each other. The book is written in such a way that you cannot help but become one or the other(Eosaidh or Vivian)in the reading of it, so what it must have been like for the writers to bring this telling to birth is unimaginable.
The Land shows us the disharmony that can result when the Lands own story and truth is ignored and our own predilections are projected on to Her, or worse, away from Her. If you are at all moved to walk the way of and listen to our Ancestors, the spirits of Affalon, the Land of Britain, The Lady then this beautiful book will inspire you and tear you apart at the same time. If i could give it more than five stars i would. It really is that good.

I loved this book. The characters were very true to life. Without giving away too much, Vivian's fierce defense of her traditions and territory, and Eosaidh's confusion at the Lad's new status were brilliant. The descriptions of the Lad's acts were inspired. But the details of life on Ynys Y Niwl (Avalon) were the highpoint for me. Yes, this is how it was. You can still feel this magick in Glastonbury, at night, climbing the Tor in the mist, or in the quiet of the Chalice Well Gardens, but to have it so beautifully and vividly described as a way of life is truly a treasure.