Rating: 
Summary: The past as we wish it was...
Review: We know, today, that much of the history in this book is false, although at the time it was written, these things (the Pagan survival, 9 million dead in the "burning times", etc) were still being taught in colleges.However, I have always taken the story as just that: A story. And as a story, it is wonderful. It gives us a glimpse into a world where Magic is a fact of life, where the Gods are just a finger's reach away. The charactors resonate, and the story is compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Epic, tragic, beautiful, and uncommonly haunting.
Review: When I first began reading 'The Heart of the Fire', I was not expecting a book that would transport my own heart so deeply into a story. The heroine of the book, Fiona, is a headstrong, red-haired woman-child growing up in a time when Paganism was still a way of life for peasants in the wild hills of Scotland. Her closest friend is a gypsy girl named Annie. Fiona's Grandmother is a village witch, and through her care, Fiona and Annie take up the mantle of the Craft. I was quite moved by many of the descriptions of rituals in this book, and found it to be a useful inspirational tool along my own spiritual journey. Fiona and Annie learn not only the secrets of Witchcraft as they mature, but also the secrets of love. Though both girls discover their own true-loves in prose that would satisfy even the most demanding of romance-novel fans, the two also share their own love story that threads its way throughout the novel. Their story culminates in a heart-wrenching tragedy when a Witch-Hunter comes to town. Cerridwen Fallingstar claims to have written this book as a memoir on a past-life. It's meticulous craftsmanship, vivid prose, and haunting --and I mean HAUNTING-- characterizations lead me to believe that Ms. Fallingstar has tapped into some past consiousness in this exceptional book. Regardless of if you choose to read this book for the joy of a well-written historical fiction, or for the archane knowledge sprinkled throughout it, 'The Heart of the Fire' is a story that will burn in your own heart for a very long time to come.
| 
