Soul Flame - by Barbara Wood (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Acclaimed novelist Barbara Wood combines her superb storytelling gifts with medical and historical fact to create the epic adventure of an unusual and gifted young woman seeking her destiny in the ancient healing arts.

Born into the tumultuous world of ancient Antioch, Selene is orphaned at birth. But before her father dies, he leaves a puzzling clue to her heritage: she has come from the gods and has a special destiny to fulfill. In the coming years, Selene studies the primitive healing arts with Mera, the healer-woman who adopts her. She learns how to lower fevers by brewing Hecate's Cure from the willow tree, how to apply green mold to an open wound to prevent infection, and most important, how to calm a patient by summoning the inner power of the "soul flame." But on her sixteenth birthday, Selene falls in love with Andreas, a passionate and troubled surgeon. When fate cruelly separates them, Selene's search for Andreas takes her to the great centers of civilization in the ancient world--Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. Desperate to find Andreas, Selene is torn between love and her dreams of healing when a revolutionary vision brings her to the fulfillment of her destiny--and the dawn of modern medicine.

From the Back Cover

Born into the tumultuous world of ancient Antioch, Selene is orphaned at birth. But before her father dies, he leaves a puzzling clue to her heritage: she has come from the gods and has a special destiny to fulfill. In the coming years, Selene studies the primitive healing arts with Mera, the healer-woman who adopts her. She learns how to lower fevers by brewing Hecate's Cure from the willow tree, how to apply green mold to an open wound to prevent infection, and most important, how to calm a patient by summoning the inner power of the "soul flame." But on her sixteenth birthday, Selene falls in love with Andreas, a passionate and troubled surgeon. When fate cruelly separates them, Selene's search for Andreas takes her to the great centers of civilization in the ancient world--Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. Desperate to find Andreas, Selene is torn between love and her dreams of healing when a revolutionary vision brings her to the fulfillment of her destiny--and the dawn of modern medicine.

Review Quotes

"Dramatic, intriguing, engrossing." --Publishers Weekly

"A master storyteller. She never fails to leave the reader enthralled." --Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means

"An accomplished storyteller." --John Jakes, New York Times bestselling author

"Wood shows herself a wizard at juggling action and romance, maintaining the momentum and sparkle of both." --Kirkus Reviews

"Wood makes her fiction come alive with authentic detailing and highly memorable characters." --Booklist

"Barbara Wood is an entertainer." --Washington Post Book World

"Entertainment fiction at its best." --Booklist

"Wood creates genuine, engaging characters whose stories are fascinating." --Library Journal

About the Author

BARBARA WOOD is the international bestselling author of twenty-five acclaimed novels, including New York Times bestseller Domina. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages. Barbara lives in California.