This time travelling romance between modern America and
ancient Ireland literally had my spine tingling and was
full of detail about how people lived as well as a love
affair to remember.
Ailin, a chieftain's son, is supposed to marry a girl from
another clan to seal an alliance. But he doesn't want a
thirteen year old waif. On a whim he throws the bride gift
he had made, a golden torque or neck ring, into an oak
sacred to the Celtic fire goddess Bridgid - which is then
struck by lightning. In a modern city, Christine Bridget
Connolly has just been dumped by her boyfriend as she works
her way through a literature degree and nears her thirtieth
birthday. She finds a golden object in a yard sale - very
old, curiously worked. She expects that it's costume
jewellery but just in case, she shows it to a Renaissance
professor, and he shows it to a visiting colleague from
Ireland, who declares it to be 1400 years old, and sacred
to Bridgid, if it's genuine.
That evening Christine is about go out with her girl friend
when she cleans up and dons the torque. Instantly she is
transported to the midst of a battle. A handsome warrior
is defending women and Christine's appearing out of a hut
startles the enemy men long enough to let him gain the
upper hand. The people here are dressed in wool, fur, linen
and leather, beautifully embroidered and worked, and
Christine can understand their speech although nothing
seems familiar. So begins her time among the people of
Eire, who believe her to be a goddess and first serve her,
then accept that she wants to be taught how to spin and
weave and earn her keep. Ailin will never forget that she
appeared out of nowhere in his hour of need and loves her
instantly, but Christine doesn't want to be loved as a
goddess instead of for herself!
LADY OF FIRE is thoroughly enjoyable and will reward the
student of history as much as lovers of romance. The
characters are memorable and while Christine has a great
deal to learn she also teaches the Celts how to prepare
sterile linen bandages, though other ideas, such as writing
down the oral histories, are less well received. Wicker
chariots, fortified homesteads, heavy wool clothing, brown
leggy sheep, lanolin handcream and lye soap all produce a
powerful image of the Celtic world. LADY OF FIRE is an
excellent read.
What woman wouldn’t want to be worshipped like a goddess?
Bridget Christine Connelly visits a yard sale and finds a
very unusual piece of jewelry—it is a torque, a
horseshoe-shaped piece of twisted gold, with delicately
worked women’s faces at either end. When she takes it home
and slides it around her neck, it takes her back through
time to the man who made it—the tall and handsome Celtic
warrior named Ailin.
At first, the newly single Christine is happy to be
worshipped as a goddess, for the torque had been made to
adorn the neck of Brighid, the goddess of fire. But as her
love for Ailin grows, she wishes to be desired for herself,
not for the goddess he believes her to be. And as her hold
on the past grows weaker and weaker, she must decide whether
to risk death in the past or a return to the future…with or
without Ailin.
This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in
August 1996 by Dorchester Lovespell.
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