A
timeless tale for the ages
by
Walter William Melnyk (Oak) & Emma Restall Orr (Bobcat)
Published
by Thoth on December 1st, 2008.
Price:
£12.95, $23.95 US.Two reviews!New Review
by Peter Neall
I
very much looked forward to getting and reading 'The Apple and the Thorn', the
first attempt at a novel written by Emma Restall Orr, one of the foremost Druid
teachers in the UK whose teaching I have long admired, and Walter William
Melnyk, a former minister in the Episcopal church in the USA, with a long and
deep interest in Druidry and its influence on Christianity.
So
when I did get it I dived in eagerly. I was expecting a story about the deep
history of Britain, its myths and
characters who exerted a profound influence on our later collective psyche. I
got those in a story rich in myth, characterisation and history. The story is
told by each of the two main characters in their own distinctive voice.
Joseph
of Arimethea, known as Eosaidh in the book, comes to England in his job as a trader
and traveller and meets Vivian, the High Priestess of the Goddess at Avalon.
Their meeting has a profound effect on them both and this story begins when
Joseph, ready to cease from his travelling, comes to end his life in the West
Country. Here he encounters Vivian again and their story of love and honour
unfolds in the context of the ending of one world and the dawn of another as
the Romans invade and change England forever.
Like
all good stories, once begun I could not put it down, it drew me in and I
wanted to know what happened. But more than that it surprised and even shocked
me. Even in the compulsion of wanting to know what happened I had to pause, to
wait as if for breath and let the story happen to me before continuing.
Vivian
describes the land, my land, as only a priestess can and I am drawn to see and
feel things locked deep in my memory that I had forgotten. I remembered mud
between the toes, darkness, real darkness of the sky at night and the sounds
and touch of the marsh, of water and of the land. It is not the description of
the land it is the gift of the land.
There
is more - as she shows Eosaidh the difference between men and women my eyes are
opened and my breath hurts. I am given a secret which has been before me all my
life that until now I have never seen nor felt so clearly.
Eosaidh's
response is authentic and honourable in a new deeper sense of the word that
goes beyond our normal usage. I hear his voice, feel the turbulence in his
heart, and the deep longings of his soul as if they were mine.
The
book gives me more than a wonderful story. Today I looked at the land and the
people I live with differently. That is a gift worth reading for.
Review
by Bryn Colvin
I have spent the last few days reading ‘The Apple and the Thorn.’ The book is about 100,000 words
in length, and I’ve read it in about four days, over one of the busiest weekends in my year – which gives some measure of how much I enjoyed it. I really didn’t want to put this down. It’s a blend of myth and fiction, exploring some familiar ideas in rather unfamiliar ways.
The difficulty with reviewing this book is not wanting to give too much away. In the first few chapters, the moments of realising who some of the protagonists are, were pleasures I would not want to deny to others. Learning about the characters and watching the way their relationship changes and grows is central to the book. So what can I say? ‘The Apple and the Thorn’ brings together both Pagan and Christian myths about Glastonbury. Set around the Roman
invasions of Britain, at a time when Glastonbury was marsh, water and islands rather than dry land, it’s more akin to the mystic Avalon of King Arthur than modern geography. This makes for a moody setting, fraught with dangers and possibilities.
The writing is rich,luscious and intensely sensual. It’s also a story told entirely in the first person present tense, with two narrators. I found it easy to keep track of the narrators however, thanks to the differences in writing styles and voices. I think this is the first novel I’ve read entirely in the present tense, and it works surprisingly well, making the story immediate and the
narratorial voices intense.
Having read quite a lot of Emma Restall Orr’s non-fiction, I found her fictional writing style entirely familiar, and very engaging. Her co-author – Walter William Melnyk I hadn’t encountered before, but his style compliments hers, and they pass the story back and forth between them to good effect.
I cried over some of the scenes. I gaped at the computer a few times. I laughed in amusement when I realised who some of the characters were. And I’ve come away inspired,thinking about my own spiritual path, my own relationship both with the land and its stories.
Highly Recommended.
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