Witch Of Portobello

THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO

BY PAOLO COELHO

"Most of those persons condemned were convicted on the basis of spectral evidence Ð'-that is to say, prosecuting witnesses declared that they felt the presence of evil spirits or heard spirit voices" (pg. 2, Paulo Coelho). "The Witch of Portobello" by the renowned Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is a novel about love, passion, joy, spirituality, and sacrifice. The circular structure of this story is very fascinating. There are really several narrators that tell the story of Sherine Khalil (better known as Athena) in their own points of view. The main narrators are Heron Ryan (journalist), Andrea McCain (actress), and Deidre O'Neill (doctor, better known as Edda).

"No one lights a lamp in order to hide it behind a door: the purpose of light is to create more light, to open people's eyes, to reveal the marvels around. No one sacrifices the most important thing she possesses: love. No one places her dreams in the hands of those who might destroy them. No one, that is, but Athena." (pg. 2-3, Paolo Coelho) This phrase, said by Heron Ryan, is the hook of the story. The deepness achieved by the author is so great, that it really catches the reader to prove it will be an inspiring story. He also gives a sense of mystery Ð'-Who is Athena? -What happened to her? Ð'-How did they know each other? Well, as the book goes on, Heron explains that he was in Transylvania because he is sent to investigate about Count Dracula's legend. There, he met Athena as she was trying to track down who her real mother was. He suddenly loses the reader as he says (not explaining the way or place they met) that he loved Athena deeply and profoundly; tragically she was savagely murdered for a still unknown reason and he wants to remember her. Coelho writes: "That love led me to see things I'd never imagined could exist Ð'-rituals, materializations, trances. [Ð'...] When the meeting in Portobello started to get out of control, we had endless arguments about how she was behaving although I'm glad know that she didn't listen to me [Ð'...] Until finally, she got herself brutally murdered [Ð'...] The perfect crime Ð'-for we don't know who murdered our joy, what their motives were, or where the guilty parties are to be found." (pgs. 4-6, Paulo Coelho) The author really leaves us wondering who this Athena is and how and why she died, which makes the book a real page-turner.

"It isn't good to speak ill of people who have passed from this life onto the astral plane. However, Athena won't have to account to me, but to all those forces that she turned to her own benefit, rather than channeling them for the good of humanity and for her own spiritual enlightment. The worst thing is that if it hadn't been for her compulsive exhibitionism, everything we began together could have worked out really well." (pg. 9, Paulo Coelho) Still, the reader is not really acquainted with Athena and her life except for the fact that she was definitely not a shy person, and that something in her life went terribly wrong. The quoted phrase is said by Andrea McCain, an actress that proves not to be very fond of Athena. She says that Athena was learning spirituality by teaching without knowing, which she refused to believe, and that she was a woman that exuded sensuality, which seduced her boyfriend. Later on, way back in the book, Andrea tells that she met Athena through some acting classes. Athena could go into trance when she danced, getting in touch with the Mother and becoming possessed by a force that called itself Hagia Sofia. Hagia Sofia could give premonitions, detect illnesses and talk to the dead; she later on decided, since Andrea had a sensitive aura, to make her into her student. They dislike each other very much, but learn a lot about the Mother and spirituality together. Later on, the reader finds out an interesting connection between Heron, Andrea and Athena Ð'-Heron meets Athena in Transylvania, there he falls in love with her, but he talks about having (an unknown) girlfriend, which it comes to be Andrea, Athena's apprentice.

"The real Tradition is this: the teacher never tells the disciple what he or she should do. They are merely traveling