The Witch of Portobello (original 2006; edition 2007)

There was a good sale on Paulo Coelho a few months back, and I bought three of them. This is the third, thank goodness, and I didn't like it any better than the other two.

Spent an hour on it, and that's an hour too much. ( )

Coelho is like an oracle for me...I read all of his books trying to extract the secret messages. I loved this one!!! ( )

The Witch of Portobello quietly but eloquently leads the reader along a journey into depth and discovery. What sets this book apart from others is its innovative chorological narrative.
The plot is centered around a young woman named Athena. Known as the witch of Portobello,her life has been a struggle to transcend society’s expectations of her. When she is found dead, there is a dark cloud of mystery that shrouds her origins and history. From there on, as the story progresses in the form of detailed interviews with the characters whom she knew, details about her are slowly unveiled. Narrated as first person accounts, each person provides a new piece to the jigsaw that is Athena. Here readers will find the descriptions most interesting as each person knows and talks about a certain side of her personality. In fact, the different perceptions that various people have about a single woman add up to let the reader develop their own opinion about who Athena really is.
Read complete review @ http://blogs.indiareads.com/views-and-reviews/the-witch-of-portobello-by-paulo-c...

Tarina yliluonnollisia voimia omaavasta tytöstä, josta kasvaa henkinen johtaja. Kirjan päähenkilö Sherine Khalil, eli Athena, etsii tarinassa itseään, suurta rakkautta ja yhteyttä jumaluuteen. Tie on kivikkoinen, mutta Athena elää oman vakaumuksensa mukaan ja asettaa itselleen jatkuvasti uusia tavoitteita. Tarina on kerrottu Athenan lähipiirin kertomana ja pikkuhiljaa pienistä paloista kertyy kokonaiskuva Athenan elämänvaiheista, opetuksista ja maailmankuvasta. ( )

In the beginning of the novel, when the journalist says he wanted to write a biography, but also wanted to be true to the subject's life and so chose to use the interviews he conducted as they were given instead of paraphrasing, I was expecting something really different. I think the set up for how the book would be presented was okay, but the topic itself was just okay.

The self-named Athena is a gypsy child given up for adoption and taken in by a couple from Lebanon, despite warnings from the caregiver at the orphanage. She grew up with a strong personality with an innate connection to the spiritual. Like many adopted children, she sought her birth mother and made her peace.

Athena becomes a spiritualist, learning by teaching others how to connect to the divine. She develops a large following and many detractors and eventually goes into hiding to escape the drama. ( )