The Flame Bearers: A Novel

by Kim Chernin

Influenced by her grandmother, a young woman named Rae grows up as a member of an ancient goddess-worshipping sect and is chosen to carry their most secret beliefs into a world of family and social rivalry

Genres: Fiction

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Kim Chernin (born May 7, 1940, Bronx, New York) is an American fiction and nonfiction writer, feminist, poet, and memoirist. She has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Leisha Wharfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most interesting feature of this book is the Goddess-worshiping Jewess sect. It gets as fantastic as you can imagine. The development of the protagonist is good and has a contemporary feel that offsets mythic and historical tangents. Love is a problem in this book, it's always complicated, there's a martyr involved, and the ending is unsatisfying. But I still enjoyed reading it for its character study, for the mix of languages, and just for the ride.