The Witch of Portobello Author:Paulo Coelho This is the story of Athena, or Sherine, to give her the name she was baptised with. Her life is pieced together through a series of recorded interviews with those people who knew her well or hardly at all -- parents, colleagues, teachers, friends, acquaintances, her ex-husband. The novel unravels Athena's mysterious beginnings, via an orphanage... more » in Romania, to a childhood in Beirut. When war breaks out, her adoptive family move with her to London, where a dramatic turn of events occurs! Athena, who has been dubbed 'the Witch of Portobello' for her seeming powers of prophecy, disappears dramatically, leaving those who knew her to solve the mystery of her life and abrupt departure. This gripping new novel is filled with the themes Paulo fans know and love: spirituality, relationships, destiny, freedom.« less
The story is engaging and the wording is exquisite at times, but it was a chore and ultimately, an annoyance, to read this book. I did not "like" many of the characters, especially the main ones. It was pounding you over the head with its excessive use of spiratulism/sacrifice,"mother" worship, etc.
Spirituality! Many go to church seeking it. This book describes how one woman believe that Jesus meets this need where ever we are. The author achieves it by telling the story of Athena who seeks to discover herself. Abandoned as a child by her mother, a Romanian gypsy, she searches for her.
Narrators are those who knew her well and others not so well. âFrom the journalist who fell in love with her to the woman who felt betrayed by her, from birth mother to adoptive mother, from teacher to studentâ narrators describe how âAthena, born Sherine, sometimes called Hagia Sofiaâ affected their lives. Interviews are related as they were given. Some believed her a âwitchâ others a spiritual leader.
How does she view love, passion, joy and sacrifice? How do we? The author shares Athenaâs view. When the Catholic Church let her down she taught love and sacrifice to others one by one and group by group. Not a book to read quickly, the author suggests there is a feminine side to God, giving readers much to ponder and reflect upon.
This is not a biography. Rather it is a reflection on beliefs and how one lives life. It can be empowering, suggesting that the dogma and rigidity of religion should be examined in light of personal beliefs such as love and sacrifice. What is love? Love just IS.
Athena, abandoned as a child, seeks her birth mother: a Romanian gypsy. In the vein of The Alchemist, this is another of is pseudo-religious psychological novels. He will bring you deeply into the realm of the "Great Mother", of the parochialism of racial and spiritual bias, and of the fanaticism of radical minorities.
I did not enjoy reading this as I found it to be a bit silly. Loaded with loosely connected New Age jargon, dripping with a very vague sort of semi-philosophy about something or other -- Hey, somebody must have liked it, but I do not plan to read this author again.
