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People of the Great Journey: Would You Go if You Were Called?
Olwen Mellory is called away from her life as a writer of fairy tales to take part in a week-long retreat on a remote Scottish island. 'The Great Journey' promises to be full of magical wisdom and visionary experiences. It's an invitation she can't resist. But within hours of arriving at the imposing Dunesfort House and meeting her companions in the circle, Olwen's adventure takes an unexpected turn. Before long, her daytime explorations of mystical practices are paired with night-time dreams and phantasms that blur the line between the real and the imaginary. As the enigmatic but vaguely sinister course director asserts his authority in a bid to create an act of modern alchemy, Olwen begins to wonder in whom she can trust. After a shocking event in the circle Olwen flees across the moors to the Callanish Stones, only to find herself caught in an ancient moon rite. Will this final calling free her from her personal demons forever, or will it be the beginning of a new nightmare?
- GenresFantasy
395 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
O.R. Melling
24 books479 followersBorn in Ireland, raised and educated in Toronto, Canada along with my seven sisters and two brothers, now living back in Ireland again. I have a beautiful daughter, Findabhair, doing her M.A. in Marine Biology and a beautiful cat, Emma, who would love to eat the fish Finn (great name for a marine biologist, eh?) wants to protect. My favourite author of all time is CS Lewis. I've read everything he ever wrote including non-fiction and adult fiction, but the Chronicles of Narnia are the best of all.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 15, 2014
So it looks like I'm alone in not being a fan of this book. This book had very little in the way of plot and was heavy in New Agey business, which I don't find the least bit interesting.
Olwen is a middle-aged woman who has been invited to a retreat in Scotland. She gets there and finds the director of the place creepy and off-putting and considers leaving but after making friends, she decides to stay. She participates in several rituals, all of which are thoroughly detailed.
If you are interested in the spiritual and new agey stuff, you may enjoy this book. If you like something with more plot, likable characters, and a good story line, then skip this one.
Olwen is a middle-aged woman who has been invited to a retreat in Scotland. She gets there and finds the director of the place creepy and off-putting and considers leaving but after making friends, she decides to stay. She participates in several rituals, all of which are thoroughly detailed.
If you are interested in the spiritual and new agey stuff, you may enjoy this book. If you like something with more plot, likable characters, and a good story line, then skip this one.
May 28, 2017
I don't know that I can review this book as much as thank it. I started reading it before a terrible event effected my life. I lost a friend to cancer. It wasn't so much unexpected as it was unbelievable. No one wants to lose a friend, especially not when you are in your 20s/30s, and not when that someone was fighting tooth and nail to beat a demon they had been battling for almost a decade. This book helped so much in the last week. Following Olwen and her journey at Dunesfort House was a wonderful escape from the reality around me, but also helped me reflect on a lot of things that I was thinking and feeling while dealing grief. Thank you. O.R. Melling, your books always seem to find me when I need them most
August 1, 2021
I bailed out of this book at about 130 pages. Some reviewers said they didn't like the New Age feel of the book. Well frankly, Jungian psychology is not "New Age", though some of the techniques described, like breathwork, are modern. Frankly I didn't find the character's experience engaging though I did enjoy her description of the stones at Callanish. The pacing was too slow for me & the entire story felt partly (mostly?) autobiographical even though the author denies it. I was expecting more in the way of a story line involving the location & history of the region rather than an exploration of the psychological issues afflicting the various characters. Many may find the subject matter appealing, but it wasn't the story I was hoping to discover.
May 9, 2019
The story was compelling, but the main character was really annoying - here she is having this amazing, magical experience and all she seems to do is be wracked with suspicion, paranoia and jealousy.
May 12, 2021
This book is not me at all... I just could not finish it which is saying something because I do not like to leave books unfinished. I just could not connect with any of the other characters.
May 21, 2021
I actually really loved this book. It sucked me in and didn't let me go. It was an easy read which for me is always a winner.
June 16, 2015
Fact or Fiction?
The author was born in Ireland and although raised in Canada, through higher education studied Celtic Studies and Medieval Irish History. Her book is so complete with metaphysical practices and concepts that she must be well versed in that also.
Her heroine, Olwen Mellory. has signed up for a week of intensive training courses at an ancient castle on one of the smaller outer islands of Scotland. Many other colorful characters have also signed up and she is the only one who seems to be a stranger to the Director named Rose (his last name is Rosenthal), whom she immediately dislikes upon meeting him. She decides she will not stay and after having unpacked her bags, then changes her mind because of others whom she meets and decides it would be interesting to stay.
The context of the story is that every individual there has a background of abuse, lack of love, degradation and torture as a child and most of them have had psychiatric counseling, but their live are still haunted and affected by their pasts. The purpose of this week, called “The Work” is to undertake various intensive exercises to totally cleanse the participants’ conscious and sub-conscious minds of the traumas remaining because of these childhood damages, thereby freeing the participant to live a more contented and fulfilling life.
Olwen, although she has taken many sessions of psychiatric counseling, still is haunted by her childhood, which to some extent she has exorcised through writing fairy stories for children. She is now 49 years old, has never had a successful love affair with a man, and when asleep, she has grotesque dreams that are so real to her that as she is undertaking these various exercises, it becomes difficult for her to distinguish between what is real and what is her imagination.
I found the book to be fascinating except that I felt she could have left off the last three chapters and wound it up before then. It was like she needed to write down everything that entered her mind. Whether this story is a culmination of the author’s real life, as some reviewers suggest, is not important to me. I found it a fascinating read almost on a fairy tale level, but with an adult viewpoint. And the metaphysical exercises in most instances were authentic for I have studied some of them.
This is an unusual tale, but for people who like to explore the human consciousness, human good and evil, and journeys into some of the aspects of metaphysics, it is fascinating and entertaining and can be read just on that level alone.
I received a complimentary copy for an honest review.
The author was born in Ireland and although raised in Canada, through higher education studied Celtic Studies and Medieval Irish History. Her book is so complete with metaphysical practices and concepts that she must be well versed in that also.
Her heroine, Olwen Mellory. has signed up for a week of intensive training courses at an ancient castle on one of the smaller outer islands of Scotland. Many other colorful characters have also signed up and she is the only one who seems to be a stranger to the Director named Rose (his last name is Rosenthal), whom she immediately dislikes upon meeting him. She decides she will not stay and after having unpacked her bags, then changes her mind because of others whom she meets and decides it would be interesting to stay.
The context of the story is that every individual there has a background of abuse, lack of love, degradation and torture as a child and most of them have had psychiatric counseling, but their live are still haunted and affected by their pasts. The purpose of this week, called “The Work” is to undertake various intensive exercises to totally cleanse the participants’ conscious and sub-conscious minds of the traumas remaining because of these childhood damages, thereby freeing the participant to live a more contented and fulfilling life.
Olwen, although she has taken many sessions of psychiatric counseling, still is haunted by her childhood, which to some extent she has exorcised through writing fairy stories for children. She is now 49 years old, has never had a successful love affair with a man, and when asleep, she has grotesque dreams that are so real to her that as she is undertaking these various exercises, it becomes difficult for her to distinguish between what is real and what is her imagination.
I found the book to be fascinating except that I felt she could have left off the last three chapters and wound it up before then. It was like she needed to write down everything that entered her mind. Whether this story is a culmination of the author’s real life, as some reviewers suggest, is not important to me. I found it a fascinating read almost on a fairy tale level, but with an adult viewpoint. And the metaphysical exercises in most instances were authentic for I have studied some of them.
This is an unusual tale, but for people who like to explore the human consciousness, human good and evil, and journeys into some of the aspects of metaphysics, it is fascinating and entertaining and can be read just on that level alone.
I received a complimentary copy for an honest review.
December 14, 2017
I re-read this book enroute to Ireland in July. I had been chatting with O.R. Melling and we were hoping to connect. We did, and had a wonderful chat in the rainy forest at Cavan.
I am a long time fan of Irish author O.R. Melling, having read many of her faerie tales over the past twenty years. This book is something a little different.
O.R. Melling is an Irish-CANADIAN writer, who grew up in Toronto, was educated there, and served in the Armed Forces in Canada. She now lives in Ireland but her Canadian roots reach across the sea. Her protagonist, Olwen Mellory, is also Irish-Canadian.
Mellory is invited to a mysterious gathering on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides. What occurs there is at times, terrifying, at times, joyous, and in the end, incredibly healing. It is a courageous book. As they do their "work", the participants engage in meditation, breath work, art therapy, and soul retrieval. Coming from diverse cultures and nations, they bond and forge relationships.
Published by Hay House, a leader in the mystical healing arts, this book reminds us that many of us--indeed most of us--are wounded in some way, and it offers hope. I recommend this book, especially if you are wavering on the knife-edge of spiritual work. The content can be intense at times, but it's important stuff, "need to be said" stuff.
I am a long time fan of Irish author O.R. Melling, having read many of her faerie tales over the past twenty years. This book is something a little different.
O.R. Melling is an Irish-CANADIAN writer, who grew up in Toronto, was educated there, and served in the Armed Forces in Canada. She now lives in Ireland but her Canadian roots reach across the sea. Her protagonist, Olwen Mellory, is also Irish-Canadian.
Mellory is invited to a mysterious gathering on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides. What occurs there is at times, terrifying, at times, joyous, and in the end, incredibly healing. It is a courageous book. As they do their "work", the participants engage in meditation, breath work, art therapy, and soul retrieval. Coming from diverse cultures and nations, they bond and forge relationships.
Published by Hay House, a leader in the mystical healing arts, this book reminds us that many of us--indeed most of us--are wounded in some way, and it offers hope. I recommend this book, especially if you are wavering on the knife-edge of spiritual work. The content can be intense at times, but it's important stuff, "need to be said" stuff.
July 16, 2014
This was my first introduction to O R Melling and I am fascinated enough to want to read more of her work. It felt like a very personal book - the protagonist's personal details seem so close to the author's - confusingly you are left wondering which of them wrote the forward as it is only initialled... Also she hints with the double reference to Anthony de Mello's "...the shortest distance between a human being and the truth is a story."
Certainly I felt opened up to a world of self-discovery through Olwen's experiences. I couldn't see myself being called, and I would be incredibly over my head if I found myself in Dunesfort House, but I enjoyed going along with Olwen for the ride.
It's true you would have to enjoy being wrapped in a haze of Celtic folklore, magic realism and New Age/ancient rites and rituals to really get this story, but O R Melling brings it all together beautifully - I couldn't put down!
The only jarring note is personal - all this going on about the Irishy-ness of Olwen being Irish made me somewhat uncomfortable - it's because I'm Irish - we don't do that much. But I guess it's the Canadian in the author that makes it okay for her.
Anyway looking forward to reading and learning more from this author!
Certainly I felt opened up to a world of self-discovery through Olwen's experiences. I couldn't see myself being called, and I would be incredibly over my head if I found myself in Dunesfort House, but I enjoyed going along with Olwen for the ride.
It's true you would have to enjoy being wrapped in a haze of Celtic folklore, magic realism and New Age/ancient rites and rituals to really get this story, but O R Melling brings it all together beautifully - I couldn't put down!
The only jarring note is personal - all this going on about the Irishy-ness of Olwen being Irish made me somewhat uncomfortable - it's because I'm Irish - we don't do that much. But I guess it's the Canadian in the author that makes it okay for her.
Anyway looking forward to reading and learning more from this author!
August 4, 2014
I really enjoyed the journey that this book took me on. I felt uplifted and enlightened while reading it, as if I were going through some of the same treatments and experiences that happen in the book. It has the same whimsey that the other books by the author have, but was clearly meant for a different audience. However, I thought the ending was far too ambiguous and wrapped things up much too quickly for the pace that the rest of the book is set at. So, I'd rate the story a good 4, but the ending brought it down to a 3.
November 22, 2015
I absolutely loved this book! It was tame at first, but it picked up quickly and was a wonderful journey. The truth of the characters unfolds slowly and gains speed as the "retreat" starts to transform its participants. Was sad when it ended but thankful I took rhe recomendation to read it!
February 9, 2014
Unusual, but intriguing.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews