Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Genre:
Women’s Fiction/ Magical Realism/ Contemporary/ Mythology
Approximate
word count: 55-60,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Lynne
Cantwell is a contributing author at Indies Unlimited where she
shares her knowledge about Indie publishing and promotion. She has a
master’s degree in fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University
and is a former broadcast journalist who has written for CNN and
Mutual/NBC Radio News, among other places. Ms. Cantwell currently
lives near Washington, DC.
Ms.
Cantwell is the author of The
Pipe Woman Chronicles,
which includes five books, Pipe
Woman's Legacy series, which
includes two books,
The Land, Sea, Sky series,
which includes three books, and other works of fiction and
non-fiction alike.”
You
can connect with her at her website or on her Facebook page.
Description:
“Maggie,
fighting to escape her abusive upbringing in West Virginia's coal
country, has built a new life for herself at college: new ideas, new
friends, and maybe a normal boyfriend. Then her professor introduces
her to the Czech myth of ‘The
Girls' War,’
and hires her to help build a society of strong women like the one in
the story. But Maggie's father will stop at nothing to get his hands
on his daughter again. Distraught, Maggie cries out for help - and
against all odds, a Slavic goddess responds by sending her an
unlikely champion.”
Appraisal:
Interesting
story, a timeless tale, will the power struggle between women and men
ever be on equal ground? Which is stronger, a matriarchy or a
patriarchal society?
Maggie’s
professor in her Introductory Women’s Studies class, Dr. Kohout,
dreams of building a community for women. But first she has to
motivate students to want to make a change in defining women’s
place in America and in the world today.
The
story switches back and forth between time settings. Sarka and
Vlasta’s story from the Czech myth over a thousand years ago, to
Maggie and Dr. Khout’s story during the 1980s in Huntington, West
Virginia. I like the way the story elements were woven together
through the two different time periods. It made it easy to see the
parallels in the characters between the two different stories. Dr.
Khout was obsessed about the old Czech folk tale of The
Maidens’ War. She had
dreams of visiting Prague, perhaps even living there. In the meantime
she is trying to teach her students how to empower themselves using
myths about strong women. She envisions constructing a society for
women.
I
think that women bond differently than men. Dr. Kohout seemed to be
realizing this towards the end of the story. I got the feeling
throughout the story that she was a closet lesbian who couldn’t
face that fact, but I didn’t have that same feeling at the end of
the story. I could see her organizing an abused women’s shelter
though. I think it is strange that I am not worried about Maggie and
her history or future, I think she will be fine. But Dr. Kohout, I am
worried about. Her story-thread takes a turn and seems unresolved. I
have a lot of thoughts right now running through my head about this
story. It will be a while before they rest.
FYI:
This
story deals with incest and sexuality.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
found no significant issues with editing or formatting.
Rating:
**** Four stars
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