Seelenfeuer

by Barbara Wood, Mechtild Sandberg-Ciletti

Schon bei Selenes Geburt wurde deutlich, daß sie etwas Besonderes war: sie besaß die Gabe des »Seelenfeuers«, sie hatte die Kraft zu heilen – andere und, an einem Wendepunkt ihres Lebens, auch sich selbst. Im farbigen ersten Jahrhundert vor Christi Geburt wächst Selene bei einer Heilerin im Nahen Osten auf. Sie lernt die Anwendung der Heilkräuter, die Kunst des Schneidens und die Vervollkommnung ihrer Gabe. An ihrem 16. Geburtstag trifft sie Andreas, einen Arzt, und sie weiß, daß sie für immer füreinander bestimmt sind. Aber das Orakel spricht anders: Selene hat eine Prophezeiung zu erfüllen und ihre persönliche Bestimmung zu finden. Die Götter sind mit ihr, als sie durch die farbenprächtigen Länder des Mittelmeerraumes zieht und die wechselvollen Abenteuer einer Außenseiterin durchlebt. Sie ist besessen von dem Willen, ihre Heilkunst auszubilden, um allen Menschen helfen zu können: die Folge sind beschwerliche Reisen, Mißgunst und harte Arbeit. Bis schließlich ihr Lebenstraum, ein eigenes Krankenhaus, Wahrheit wird und Andreas wieder vor ihrer Tür steht ... Aber noch weichen ihre Widersacher nicht zurück.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical, Fiction, Fantasy, Ancient, Egypt

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Barbara Wood was born on 30 January 1947 in Warrington, Lancashire, England, UK. Together with her parents and older brother, she immigrated to the United States. She grew up in Southern California and attended Los Angeles Schools. After High School, Barbara attended the University of California at Santa Barbara but left to train as a surgical technician. During this time, Barbara held numerous jobs, before she sold her first novel in 1976. A few years prior, Barbara met her husband George. To date, Barbara has written 22 books, including two under the pen name Kathryn Harvey, these books are quite different from the Barbara Wood's novels and she, her agent and editor agreed that a pen name would serve to indicate the difference. She is an international best selling author with books translated into over 30 languages. The reader is transported to exotic countries that Barbara has meticulously researched to provide her fans with a true sense of the culture and history relevant to each story. At the heart of every book, is a strong, independent woman. Currently, Barbara is busy working on her next story that will, no doubt, showcase an extraordinary heroine in an exciting and intriguing adventure.
When not writing, Barbara often takes time to enjoy the work of other authors, and that of a certain well-known martial artist, whose name is listed among the "Ten things you might not know about Barbara.

Reviews

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about a young woman who fulfills her destiny as a healer.
she travels most of the known world at that time to learn as much about the healing arts as she can. I always wonder how people manage to travel those many places in the early part of this millenia. She brushes many famous events but the main focus of her story is learning as much medicine as she can in order to fulfill her destiny.

[Gema Moratalla · Rating 1 out of 5]

A pesar de que la he leído completa porque tenía curiosidad por saber cómo acababa, creo que es una novela muy floja.
Los personajes son bastante planos, tiene muchas incoherencias y, en cuanto a ambientación, algunos detalles son terribles (como confundir el circo romano y el Coliseo. En serio???).
Luego hay un epílogo donde la autora justifica la veracidad de los datos médicos. No dudo que se haya documentado bien a este respecto, pero en cuanto a Historia básica de Roma... Uff.
La decepción máxima del año.

[Sabine Salm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naja, was soll ich zu diesem Buch schreiben. Anfangs hat es mich gefesselt und je weiter ich vorankam umso mehr hat es mich losgelassen. Ich möchte nicht sagen es hätte mich gelangweilt, aber der Zauber war verflogen. Manchmal kam es mir so „unnötig in die Länge gezogen " vor. Und doch fand ich die Geschichte um Selene schön. Es gab nicht viele Protagonisten, die mit sympathisch waren. Aber Mera, Selene und Andreas habe ich in mein Herz geschlossen.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Po všech těch thrillerech a "thrillerech" mě tahle knížka donutila zpomalit a četbu si užít. Jasně, literárně to žádný velký skvost není, ale na dlouhé letní večery byla moc příjemná.

[Ingrid Fasquelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Née en Grande-Bretagne, Barbara Wood a fait ses études en Californie où elle est devenue infirmière. À l'âge de seize ans, elle écrit son premier roman, et, voyageuse infatigable, elle sillonne l'Alaska, l'Égypte, l'Afrique orientale et l'Union soviétique. Traduits en plus de trente langues, ses romans publiés aux Presses de la Cité sont tous des best-sellers.

Dans Séléné, roman initiatique dépaysant, érudit et tout à fait passionnant, Barbara Wood puise habilement dans la mémoire historique collective et offre au lecteur une formidable épopée qui mêle avec virtuosité la grande histoire à d'autres, d'amour, de trahison, de courage et de foi.

Tous les ingrédients du roman historique d'aventures sont ici réunis pour le plus grand plaisir du lecteur. Une trame historique étonnante, fondée sur une solide documentation médicale, une intrigue haletante, des personnages attachants, de nombreux rebondissements... Le roman de Barbara Wood galope sans aucun temps mort, misant avant tout sur l'aventure et l'évasion. On y découvre avec bonheur quelques uns des lieux mythiques de l'Antiquité : Rome, Babylone, Jérusalem, Alexandrie, la Perse... Un vrai plaisir de lecture ! Enivré par l'histoire des premières conquêtes médicales et grisé par la quête initiatique d'une héroïne courageuse et à la détermination sans faille, le lecteur tourne les pages, dévore, toujours à l'affût du prochain rebondissement et des embûches qui se dressent sur le chemin de Séléné ! C'est passionnant !

Séléné est un éblouissant roman d'aventures au cœur de l'Empire romain, de ses mœurs pittoresques et de ses usages les plus surprenants, où l'on découvre le secret de médecines inconnues, l'immense savoir du monde antique et la destinée des femmes de l'époque. Les amateurs de fictions historiques ne pourront qu'apprécier cet haletant voyage initiatique.

Séléné est un roman historique brillant, doublé d'un formidable tableau des mœurs de l'époque !

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't really sure which genre to assign this novel to. It's not straight historical fiction; I guess historical fantasy is the closest genre. There is a certain amount of romance, but nothing tasteless. The story is that of the healer Selene. From Palmyra she travels to Antioch, Persia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and finally Rome where she meets her destiny. In the novel she is enslaved for awhile, then escapes. She reunites with her sweetheart of years before, the surgeon Andreas; they had been separated by someone else's lie. In her travels, Selene notes medical practices everywhere she goes. Finally, the two attempt to build a hospital, despite obstacles and sabotage ordered by the evil empress Agrippina.

This book was quick reading. Characters seemed one-dimensional. It was too sentimental. The history I felt was not completely accurate, e.g., introducing characters from India or having Claudius go to Britain years before he does, historically. But anything medical was fascinating; I felt the author was on surer ground there.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for about half of it. The story of a woman healer in ancient Roman times with the mystery of her birth hanging over her head was interesting. As the story unfolded tragedy would strike just as she was getting settled someone and building her healing practice. With the tragedy on hand she would have to escape to somewhere else...where basically the same thing happened. It seemed like the story was repeating itself over and over and I finally got tired of it although I did read it to the end... where, to finish the book, another tragedy struck and she once again was escaping off to another place to start again. I'm not sure if there is another book that follows this where the story keeps going--as it seemed as though it was really not finished, but I'm not going to look for it. This was not the worst book I've read, but certainly not one of the better ones. The writing style is good and historically, the book brings out some interesting historical figures, but its just not enough for me to want any more of it.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story and main plot were interesting enough to let me finish the book. There were quite a few good ideas, but all in all, I'm not too fond of Wood's style of writing. Also, I think there are a lot of logical mistakes, chronological problems, the characters are too shallow, many times there could have been a great twist and a lot of great story telling, but then the author chose an easy peasy solution or just skipped a few years. Also, I didn't find the ending very satisfying, aber I was glad, that it finished.
Too me, this book is a lot like fanfiction...wouln't read it a second time and I don't think I will try any of her other books.

[Beatriz Rosales · Rating 4 out of 5]

En la búsqueda del motivo y propósito de su vida, a Selene le costo ser una viajera constante, cambiando de nombres y de paises, siempre con el afán de aprender a "sanar", y con la clara idea de reencontrarse con Andres quién le dió el motivo principal para buscar el arte de la Curación mediante el metodo cientifico. Selene es presa de una sed de saber su origen,y para encontrarlo recorre un trayecto lleno de constantes peligros, pero que siempre supo aprovechar para lograr avanzar. En su odisea conoce a Wulf, personaje nordico con el que engendra a Ulrika, quién tambien inicia un viaje para buscar su origen y su propósito de vida.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know how many times I've read this book at this point... and I don't even know if it's in print anymore, but I happened to randomly get a hardcover copy at a bargain bin at a grocery store of all places... and it's my all-time favorite book now... I'm willing to let my friends borrow it because I think it's a must-read... but it's very special to me so I have to know that it'll come back unharmed :)

[Katerina Ribitsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books I fell in love with.
An amazing story evolving during the time the Roman empire was thriving.
It's so well written that, even though it's fiction, when I visited Rome in person and i saw places mentioned in the book I felt it was real!

I recommend it as highly as possible!

[Linnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites (Swedish language), usually I reread it every few years or ones a year. Even if it's an old published book, the people are easy to relate to, it's nice to see a girl/women in the leading role! My hopes is that every one I know will give this book a chace!
💖

[Martin Smrz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trocha romantiky (bez ni to proste nejde) ale jinak zajimavy pribeh zasazeny do historie a hlavne putovani Selene po mestech, ktere stale existuji, jen nedosahuji takove slavy jako driv, stalo za to.
Mozna i 4 hvezdy by se hodily, ale bylo to nekde na pomezi se 3.

[Dona · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject of medecine was quite interresting. I liked the story, but there was to many jump in time for my taste. We often jump 5 - 10 years, and it feels like we don't have the full story.

[Karl Goerz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant, quick story. The writing was to clean for me. What an ending.

[Amanda Hinchman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soul Flame combines the author's background in medicine with the healing arts of the ancient world. Our protagonist, Selene, is raised by her adoptive mother, a talented and much sought after healer. However, Selene's birth parents left behind clues to who she is and what her legacy is. She soon discovers her passion for medicine, encouraged by a physician she begins a relationship with, and her quest for her identity are one and the same.

This book was just a little...outlandish...at times for me. For example, Selene finds herself basically kept prisoner in the ancient city of Magna, but I don't believe this was ever a real place. The characters, settings and customs of Magna are unlike anything that would have taken place during this time period. So, while I thought Soul Flame was historical fiction, I now think it would be better branded as historical fantasy. It strays from the historical record on more than one occasion (come on, Augustus Caesar ruled for 40 years, I don't think the timeline of Selene's birth would far surpass that.) But I am an avid reader of history, not an expert myself so I cannot fault it too much.

This book was still entertaining and kept me guessing about what would happen to Selene. Though, there were so many time gaps. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but this book started out heavily focused on the budding romance between Selene and Andreas. I thought it almost cruel of the author to keep them separated for two decades. Another thing: I was expecting more romance, as, like I mentioned, the novel started out strong with it.

Finally, while I'm still grappling with how the author chose to end this book, it is the resolve and attitude of our main character, Selene, that made me appreciate the ending more.

[Karen Keller Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es MARAVILLOSO, no quería que se acabara.
bueno, dicho sea de paso, yo amo a Wood, asi que quizás por eso me guste tanto.
Ambientada en Antioquía en los tiempos del Imperio Romano, conocemos a Selene y su madre
Mera, quién es cuidadora y le enseña todo lo que hay que saber para curar a gente.
Mera ya le tiene el futuro planeado a Selene ya que hay un secreto sobre el nacimiento de
su hija que debe ser revelado y que cambiará absolutamente todo.
Pero... Selene se enamora, y todo cambia, todos los planes, toda la verdad se trastoca.
Mera se verá obligada a llevarse a Selene lejos de su amor, y desde ahí todo se complicará
para los enamorados.
Una novela llena de historia, de sufrimientos, de medicina, incontables viajes, de amor y
escapes de los lugares más extraños es lo que nos trae Wood, jamás te imaginarás lo que
cada vuelta de página te trae.
Como siempre Wood empoderando a la mujer, te deja la enseñanza de que todo se puede si así
lo deseas, que ser mujer no es impedimento para lograr tus objetivos.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encantada con esta historia, no había leído nada de la autora y me ha tenido enganchada todo el libro. La historia de Selene es la búsqueda incansable de cumplir tus sueños, conociéndose a si misma durante su aventura, a gente de la que aprender , amoldarse a las situaciones y aceptar y afrontar las realidades y sorpresas del destino.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story set in the ancient world. A young girl who is a healer collects medical knowledge as she travels. She is separated from her love and she is trying to get back to him. The author has medical knowledge and at the lets the reader know the facts about the techniques that are discovered.

[Linda Šimerová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moje první kniha od autorky. Moc se mi líbila. Nějaké zápletky mi přišly zbytečné a kniha mohla být klidně o 150 stran kratší. Nicméně se určitě podívám po dalších knihách autorky. Člověk si i trochu osvěží historické události. Zajímavé pro mě bylo i dávné léčení.

[Suz R · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very first books I fell in love with. I really enjoyed reading it. I really think it is one of my great inspirations that opened my eyes and made me fascinated and interested in studying medicine. I Will always cherish this book!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story of ancient healer Selené on her way to fulfill her destiny and construct the best healing palace known to mankind combining healing methods from the whole known wolrd which she travels in the book, trying to figure out what is her destiny and find her lover Andreas.

She meets many great character’s and thus we can read many little stories in one.

[Javiera Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una linda novela, al estilo de Barbara Wood.. muy femenina, entretenida. Me gustó

[Patricia G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since my last historical novel so I throughly enjoyed letting myself get carried away by this one. I really like this type of historical medical novels somehow.

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too long and too many threads left hanging at the end.

[nono · Rating 5 out of 5]

je marie andréas

[Lesekatze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima Buch, sehr spannend und mitreißend. Das Ende hätte ich mir anders gewünscht.

[Sabina Kullenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars.

[Ginnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read until the weak ending. Maybe a follow-up book ?