Description
Captivating archetypal characters dramatize the everyday magic of self-discovery in a work as intriguing as Cunningham’s previous novel, The Return of the Goddess . Alchemy professor Adam Underwood lives with his mother and his children in a walled mansion ringed by the mysterious “Empty Land,” a region inhabited by the descendents of Lilith, the first woman. One of those descendants, also named Lilith, is the mother of Adam’s children, and the professor plans to use their daughter to re-possess her. Lilith is caught in Adam’s trap and begins to die; though immortal, she cannot survive captivity. The series of events triggered by this wild mother’s imprisonment changes all of the characters forever; Cunningham’s simple, powerful narrative shows them growing believably and inevitably as a result of the choices they and others make. Like most fables, the story has a moral: self-knowledge is life and growth; all of us spend far too little time pursuing it. Though not without flaws–Adam’s complete blindness to the wild mother’s needs being one of them–this is a beguiling tour de force.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
