This is what has always been missing

Like many lovers of Celtic lore, I have encountered and sought out tellings of the the Arthurian legend. From my childhood well-worn VCR copy of Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, to the cumbersome Le Morte d’Arthur, even Sam Neill’s Merlin, Monty Python, and, of course, the music of Camelot. My favorite travel memories are in Cornwall, chasing the ruins of my ancestors from pagan stones in farm fields to winds at Tintagel Castle.

This is the first time in all of these stories that I have heard the telling shaped to give life to the women of lore, told through them and about them. So much is familiar and so much is startling in Natania’s creative vision. The new connections between the characters and definitions of weapons had me nodding and thinking, “Of course, this makes perfect sense.” In particular, Natania’s marvelous reinvention of the Lady of the Lake and her origin and gifts, but also with many more characters and places in delightful ways I do not wish to spoil for future readers.

The book is from a sisterhood that calls to me: tell me more of the women behind the men in my legends. This is what has always been missing from the telling.