Echo the Ancients

by Colette Obrien

"Echo the Ancients" is a vibrant historical novel that shines a light on the Minoan culture, a matriarchal society based on the island of Crete from 4000 to 1500 BC, and illustrates its power to transform lives in modern times.

The novel follows fourteen-year-old Gloria, who is living on the Mediterranean island with her father and mother in 1954. When Andromache, Gloria's Cretan tutor, begins to weave a story about the ancient Minoans, Gloria's eyes light up. Taking place a hundred years before the Minoans disappeared without a trace, the legend tells of how Mara, the head of Queen Nausicaa's palace dance company, and her family members were confronted by omens of monumental change.

As Andromache unfurls her enthralling tale, Gloria's dark world is illuminated by the shining example of a culture that lived in harmony with nature and was devoted to the Great Goddess, art, dance, sports, and beauty.

476 pages, Paperback

Published November 18, 2015

About the author

Holding a master’s in clinical psychology, Colette Obrien has practiced as a psychotherapist for thirty years, with an emphasis on the exploration of dreams and myths along with the development of the feminine in both the individual and the collective.

She has authored the historical novels: Time and Transformation, The Nobility of the Robe, and most recently, Echo the Ancients. All of her novels reflect her interest in spiritual and psychological growth with an emphasis on feminine development.

She’s been a travel writer and photographer for twenty years, publishing in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States and
Canada.

Colette is a member of Left Coast Writers in Larkspur, California, Baipa, and a presenter for the California Travel Writers Conference.

She lives in Mill Valley, California, with her dog and ca,t and her three grown children live nearby.

Reviews

[Lora]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and will review once I've read it.

[Janet Reindl-bransfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from a Goodreads give-away. I liked the book. Fascinating look at an ancient culture with advanced beliefs interspersed with a story taking place in mid-20th century. I thought the author did a good job with character development and the flow of the two story lines. I do think that the book could have used tighter editing - some of the descriptions were overly flowery and seemed almost adolescent in nature - like something that a student in a high school freshman English writing class would have written.