When Astarte Weaver moves to a derelict cottage in County Clare, Ireland, she finds herself reluctantly drawn into the feuds and alliances of her neighbours around the Swan Lake, an area steeped in myth and magic. Soon the lives of all are transformed. Eden, the reluctant rock icon, hounded to breaking point by paparazzi; Mairie and Seamus, whose families have battled for five generations; love-struck teenagers Jamie and Sinead; Flynn, who hopes to help Astarte rebuild her life as well as her cottage.
Then tragedy strikes, tearing the community apart, and Astarte is forced to confront her own personal demons and make decisions which could finally lay her past to rest.
You must be logged in to post a review.
Please log in
3
People Reviewed This Item
By Ann Keller
May 8, 2010
Lake a tapestry, this wonderful story is interwoven with marvelous characters and images of rural Ireland. Ms. Tenzin-Dolma tells her tale with poignant mastery and skill. Indeed, I could almost feel my own heart race whenever brawny Flynn was near, scrape the rough cottage stones beneath my fingers and hear the swans call near the lake upon a misty morn. I highly recommend The Swan Lake to all of those who cherish life in all of its facets.
"The Swan Lake: a really magical book" "The Swan Lake" is the first novel by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma, the famous creator of "the Glastonbury Tarot". Here Lisa Tenzin-Dolma weaves a magical tale of love, death and rebirth. The characters are charming, the plot unfolds beautifully. I was truly enraptured by the style of the author, which will take you on a sensual journey of words and wonders. This is the best fiction I have read this year and I can only recommend that you get yourself asap a copy of this enchanting book. Estelliane, presenter of "The Crane Bag Show", a culture program on Glastonburyradio.net
"The Swan Lake" The Swan Lake A book so real, when I reluctantly turned the last page I felt as though I had just awoken from a dream about people I know and love. The author, Lisa Tenzin-Dolma, wove this story around lives that begin long after maturity and end long before death; lives that touch each other in absurd and astonishing way. She builds a community for us out of the detritus of everyday lives. Around a lake set in Ireland, believed to be both enchanted and cursed, our characters come together to heal and love and lose. Astarte Weaver, a misfit in her own life, comes from England to escape the conclusion of her two closest relationships. Driving around in Ireland, looking for a piece of land to make her own, she finds a ramshackle cottage on the edge of the lake. It is in ruins, but so is Astarte’s life. She feels her heart in the cottage and insists, against the stout advice of the estate agent, on buying the place and rebuilding it to its former glory. ... More > Befriending the agent and his wife, Astarte begins to reconstruct her life along with the cottage. Flynn, a local builder, is recommended for the job. In spite of the immediate chemistry that bubbles between them, Astarte hires him to help her make her dream come true. He more than delivers with his reconstruction of the cottage, but can he repair and beautify a broken heart? Meanwhile, Eden, the famous musician who was home grown near the lake in County Clare, has come to a crossroads in his life and returns to his home to heal and figure out his future. He needs to be in the warm circle of his family in order to repair his identity and find a new passion. He is aided in this endeavor by his loyal agent, Linda, who loves Eden but can never tell him for fear her affection will not be returned or worse, Eden will be frightened off by her declaration. John (the estate agent) and his wife Siobahn have a fine son to nurture but as he enters the story, a boy verging on manhood, there is trouble in his soul. It’s called first love. The object of his affection, Sinead, lives with her great aunt Mairie whose life’s goal is to perpetuate a feud with her family’s direst enemy, Seamus, who happens to be the father of Astarte’s builder. When one of the young lovers is lost, the other is truly lost. The healing process is long and painful for the family, but help does come in the form of a similarly effected friend. We are not spared one tear nor denied one smile in this tale. Just as true love never runs smooth in reality, so it is in The Swan Lake. Alliances are made, broken, repaired, lost and kept at bay around the lake. Sorrow hits it’s peak and love does it “conquer all” dance before the story ends. All of the characters find something in their lives that could be tragedies or could be miracles. Love forms from a lifetime of hatred, from the chemistry of youth, is tested in a solid marriage and slowly grows from friendship and trust. I was quite disinclined to close the novel for fear of losing my new friends and being rudely ejected from their lives. I came to know them all and developed a fondness for each. I so loved this novel that I will prevail upon its author to write a dozen sequels and follow every character to their, hopefully, long lived and blissful conclusion.< Less
