The Blessing Stone [Paperback]

Barbara Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2004

Millions of years ago, a meteorite fell to earth and a beautiful blue stone shattered from it. One hundred thousand years ago, a girl named Tall One found the crystal on the African plain---and it formed her destiny, as well as the destiny of generations to come. From ancient Israel to imperial Rome, medieval England, fifteenth-century Germany, the eighteenth-century Caribbean, and the nineteenth-century American West, the destiny of the stone and the history of the world unfold. Each story is full of the betrayals and obsessions of the human heart, and the quests of the human spirit. In The Blessing Stone, Barbara Wood has both told the intimate details of her characters' lives and created a sense of the epic sweep of human history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wood (Perfect Harmony) pulls off an unlikely feat with this sweeping epic about the history of humanity, from the first Homo sapiens to 20th-century Californians. At the novel's center is a blue crystal, a fragment from a meteorite that fell to earth some three million years ago. The crystal is first discovered by a girl on the African plain 100,000 years ago; when the "water stone" seems to save her mother from illness, the girl's stature in her community changes and so does the fate of her descendants. As the crystal is passed down through the generations, Wood crafts vivid sketches of ordinary women who triumph over a prescribed destiny. A Roman noblewoman disobeys her husband and finds her own salvation; an 11th-century English prioress struggles against an abbot to save her monastery; a girl from a 16th-century German hamlet heads to the Near East to find her father and becomes part of the sultan's harem; a plantation wife in 18th-century Martinique saves her estate from marauding pirates. At last sighting, the blue stone is "in a place called Woodstock, wired into the handle of a marijuana roach clip owned by a hippy [sic] named Argyle." Some stories are predictable, but Wood packs them with historical details that should keep readers interested ("When her brothers came to visit, they greeted her, as all Roman male relatives greeted their kinswoman, by kissing her on both cheeks. This was not a gesture of affection, but rather a covert way to detect wine on a woman's breath").
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In her latest book, Wood, who is well known in Europe for her epic novels (The Prophetess), chronicles human development by following the passage of a precious stone throughout history. The stone, a striking blue meteorite that fell to Earth three million years ago, is first found by early humans in Africa when they are just learning to plan for the future. They attribute this new understanding to the discovery of the stone. Thus begins the legend of the stone as it passes through history from ancient Israel, to Imperial Rome, to medieval England, to the colonial Caribbean and finally the American West. In each episode, the individuals who come into contact with the stone are captivated by its beauty, influenced by the powers instilled in it, and often involved in significant human cultural developments. In each era, Wood creates genuine, engaging characters whose stories are fascinating although a bit uneven in the later episodes. This novel should earn Wood the larger audience in the United States that she deserves. Recommended for all public libraries.
Karen T. Bilton, Somerset Cty. Lib., Bridgewater, NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312320248
• ISBN-13: 978-0312320249
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #917,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a terrific journey!, January 22, 2003

By 

Debra F. Gilbert (Alton Bay, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blessing Stone (Hardcover)

From 3,000,000,000 years ago, to the "wild" west, this stone has seen it all...

Everyone of the stories captured something wonderful, survival, love, hate, passion, faith, hero's and heroine's, villians and nature.

I enjoyed the stories all by themselves, but it was so cool to read the history of the world through the travels of the "Blessing Stone", and to see it come full circle and back out again to enchant someone else's life.
I really enjoyed every story and every character, I think most people will...so read on!

Enjoy,

Debbi :)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's no such thing as too many stories!, March 29, 2003

By 

"phlicker" (Coconut Creek, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blessing Stone (Hardcover)

Barbara Wood has too many stories to tell. For some authors, that could be a problem. For the redoubtable Ms. Wood, it is a challenge, and with "The Blessing Stone" she rises to that challenge superbly. The mysterious blue stone of the title connects the stories as it moves from hand to hand throughout the ages.

We begin at the dawn of, er... Woman, with an early human woman named Tall One who finds the stone and with its guidance (or at least it inspiration) leads her people to water and safety. The tale progresses to pre-Biblical times where we visit with some people who might be the ancestors of the Hebrews. (Was it the Reed sea or the Red sea? Hmmm...) The story pulses with the charm of a well-told folk tale as we learn the (unlikely?) origins of wine and beer. Ms. Wood's eye for the interesting detail is ever sharp, and her sense of humor holds sway even during the most dramatic episodes. On through ancient Rome to an England under siege by Vikings, we visit a Turkish harem, the island of Martinique (beware of pirates) and take an arduous journey through the American west along the Oregon trail.

If all of this sounds like too much, then heed the words of Bono when he sings "too much is not enough," because the author leaves us happily wanting more.

In her latest book, Barbara Wood touches on some familiar themes and visits some familiar settings, but what's most familiar here is her deft control of the narrative thread as she weaves this enchanting tapestry. Some of the episodes are quite short, others nearly novelette length, but all are perfectly constructed to bring home Ms. Wood's overiding statement that, in any age, sisterhood is powerful and women are indispensable.

Yes, "The Blessing Stone" is a gem.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars most engrossing book I've ever read, April 17, 2004

By 

R. Dickerson (CLARKSVILLE, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blessing Stone (Hardcover)

I loved this book. It had something for everyone. It was part clan of the cave bear, part history novel, part romance, part fantasy and a really good read. The book is divided into several vignettes that follow a central character's journey. I worry I'll never find anything as good as this again.