Associated Press Like his other novels, Paulo Coelho s latest, The Witch of Portobello, is an incredibly beautiful read. And, like many of his other novels, it features an unusual and complicated main character. In this case, she s a woman born in Transylvania to a Gypsy mother who s later adopted by a wealthy Lebanese couple. As a child, Sherine Khalil renames herself Athena. She shows a strong religious vocation and reports seeing angels and saints, which both impresses and worries her parents. Athena s life story is told in the form of interviews, which at first seems a distraction, until readers grasp the pace at which the tale unfolds. As the book begins, Athena is dead - she managed to get herself brutally murdered, a journalist tells us in the opening pages. How she ended up that way creates the intrigue that attempts to sustain the book. Athena marries young and bears a son, she leaves her husband, even sells real estate in Dubai for a time, all the while searching for her true self. But things really start picking up when she meets her mentor, Edda, who teaches her to harness her spiritual powers. About halfway through, the book begins to feel a bit like a self-help manual, with Edda bestowing her wisdom on Athena - and us. Try to feel good about yourself even when you like the least worthy of creatures, she says. Reject all negative thoughts and let the Mother take possession of your body and soul. But Coelho s vast skill as a writer manages to keep the tale from lapsing too far over the edge into new agey clichés. We follow Athena s rise to a goddess who calls herself Hagia Sophia, attracting hordes of followers. And through the diverse eyes of those who knew her, we witness her fall. The Witch of Portobello By Paulo CoelhoHarper Collins, 268 pages
