Additional information
by Paulo Coelho (Author)
New York Times Bestseller
"An incredibly beautiful read." - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
How do we find the courage to be true to ourselves--even if we are unsure of who we are? A novel of daring and unconventional living by the author of The Alchemist.
The Witch of Portobello tells the story of Athena -- born in Transylvania, adopted, raised across continents -- a woman whose fierce spiritual gifts and refusal to conform made her magnetic to some and deeply threatening to others. We meet her after her death, through the voices of those who knew her: her mother, her ex-husband, her lovers, her disciples, her enemies. Each account contradicts the others. None of them, alone, tells the whole truth.
What emerges is the portrait of a woman on an uncompromising quest to understand the divine feminine -- through dance, through ritual, through the ancient traditions she sought out and embodied -- and the world's complicated response to a woman who lived that openly and that freely.
The Witch of Portobello is a transporting read that will challenge you to find the courage it takes to be true to yourself, even when -- especially when -- you're not sure who that is yet.
Back Jacket
How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves--even if we are unsure of whom we are?
That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well--or hardly at all. Among them:
"People create a reality and then become the victims of that reality. Athena rebelled against that--and paid a high price."
Heron Ryan, journalist
"I was used and manipulated by Athena, with no consideration for my feelings. She was my teacher, charged with passing on the sacred mysteries, with awakening the unknown energy we all possess. When we venture into that unfamiliar sea, we trust blindly in those who guide us, believing that they know more than we do."
Andrea McCain, actress
"Athena's great problem was that she was a woman of the twenty-second century living in the twenty-first, and making no secret of the fact, either. Did she pay a price? She certainly did. But she would have paid a still higher price if she had repressed her natural exuberance. She would have been bitter, frustrated, always concerned about 'what other people might think, ' always saying, 'I'll just sort these things out, then I'll devote myself to my dream, ' always complaining 'that the conditions are never quite right.'"
Deidre O'Neill, known as Edda
Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that will transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice.
