The fractured plotline could be confusing, jumping back and forth between the girl she was and the grandmother she is, but the author is very clear with chapter and section headings and use of people’s names, and the issue does not arise.

This is powerful writing technique couched in soft emotions. The style creates intensity of feeling through first person point of view and present tense. The writer paints pictures and moods with evocative sensory imagery that draws us into the magical world where the heroine lives

There is a touch of magical realism, with a carefully developed and easily believable metaphysical framework of shamanism that murmurs an underlying chorus to the woman’s practical daily life.

The story has a serious theme that is discussed often, but the immediacy of its application to the main character’s situation and the depth of our empathy makes it seem appropriate.

I found little to complain about in the writing. There are some rather stretched coincidences and convenient outcomes, but reasonable for a Romantic Fantasy. I wasn’t happy with the imposition of Science Fiction heritage on the society. A common rule in writing: don’t mix your magics. It struck a sour note with me and added little to the theme or plot of the story.

 Oh, yes, and please learn the difference between “lie” and “lay.” “I lay on my bed,” is correct if you’re speaking in past tense,  but this story is written in present tense, which makes the small error even more confusing.

This is a tale that encompasses everything in the circle of life: grief and joy, conflict and peace, hatred and love, life and finally, death. But it is joy that wins. A sweet story, recommended particularly for the old and the young, but also for everyone in between.

Four stars.

This review was originally published on Reedsy Discovery.