Species coexistence Book

Poetic Justice

This intriguing, tightly woven tale grabbed me from the la prima pagina with its lush evocative prose and mercurial movement.

Ovid was exiled from Rome… we know from history, but scholars continue to ponder and argue the reasons for and nature of this bitterly harsh banishment. The play that was to be his masterpiece "Medea" remains forever only a few lines of enigmatic prose.

Springing from this enigma, the story of the magical Xenia ... Xenia, a foreigner, a baby left adrift, only to blossom into a very powerful enchanting female force, ablaze, untamable and capable of magical forces. Exotic and erotic, she yearns to acquire the quinta essentia, the substance of life! Possessing an ineffable feminine jouissance, Xenia's character is strongly sensual, yet softly childlike.

The back-story that Ms. Allison weaves is a deeply wrought, yet finely tuned instrument …icy hot…mythically mad… and passionately portrayed!

Within this duality of human nature, sex and power converge to excite and entice the reader to travel with Xenia and Ovid over the wild animals housed beneath the stones of Rome while feeling the electricity flowing between their very souls.
I walked the stone streets and felt the marble statues; inhaled the fragrant herbs and felt the warmth of Roman baths wash over me…the prose was so radiantly rendered!

My heart knew the twist that would close this journey, but it takes careful attention to the movement in this cleverly crafted novel to fully realize what Ms. Allison ultimately offers up!

I hope to read more from this enchanting author!… I'd especially love to follow Xenia deeper into the Black Sea over the pebbles and back into that water where she came crashing up through the bubbles into the fresh air! Exhilarating!

Highly recommended!