the witch of portobello

the latest novel by brazilian author paulo coelho
his most famous book is titled the alchemist
that and one titled the zahir are the only ones i have read
though enjoyed them both so not too much hesitation in taking on this one
the witch of portobello is a lady named athena
born to romanian gypsies in transylvania
abandoned and then adopted by a lebanese couple
who relocate to london to escape war-torn beirut
from the start of the book it is stated that athena has died
so the book is in effect an investigative journal of her life
presented as a series of transcripts of interviews
some provide first-person accounts of people's relationships with athena
others provide expert opinions in relationship to the investigation of her death
each chapter is in chronological order starting from her adoption
so her new mother provides an insight to athena as a young child
she was unusually and strongly drawn to the church
and claimed to have had a vision of 'a woman dressed in white, like the virgin mary'
this points to her strong spiritualism and independence
which leads to difficulties initially with her parents
then with the man she marries at a very young age and has a son to
she is forced out of the church when she is divorced
further isolating her and triggering a quest for meaning in her life
she turns to travel and subsequent meetings with spiritual guides
one of which turns her on to music and dance leading to trance
this as a means to contact the mother goddess
this power then manifests itself as another being in her body
able to provide words of wisdom and healing advice to mere mortals
so a cult springs up as she encourages her followers in portobello
naturally the conventional church is concerned about her power
and via the press launches a campaign to discredit her
they adopt a name for her and hence the title of the book
it's all very readable and has an unexpected but believable twist at the end
i particularly related to her discovery of music
and it's ancient and universal power to transcend
the author also uses the book to discuss some contemporary issues
including the relevance of traditional religions in the modern world
and the likely continuing evolvement of alternative dogmas
this is all cleverly done by the author in the various transcripts
this from a ficticious 74 year old french historian interviewed about paganism
we may be witnessing a very important moment in the history of the world
when the spirit finally merges with the material and the two are united and transformed at the same time
i imagine there will be a very violent reaction from organised religious institutions
that are beginning to lose their followers - there will be a rise in fundamentalism
if 'new age' was still a fashionable genre then in one sense paulo coelho belongs there
as traditionally his books have delved into spiritualism, self-improvement, oneness, etc
the witch of portobello contains all of that and more
for one thing it is a cleverly constructed straight-up novel
but it is much more than that as he discusses current issues
and further to demonstrate his willingness to evolve and adapt
the book is now the subject of an online film competition
conceived and encouraged by paulo coelho himself
he has invited people to submit a film via youtube on any of the 42 transcripts
presumably to be assembled into one complete film in 2008
looking forward to seeing the results of that