Follow Here To Purchase The Way

Author: Kristen Wolf

Publisher: Crown Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-307071769-6

You’ll either love this book or hate it.  

You’ll either go on a journey with seven year old Anna living in first century Palestine, or you’ll stop reading this book once you realize that the sacred-to-some story parallels that of a seven year old boy living in Nazareth at the same time.

You’ll either be drawn to respond to Anna’s heart-stabbing question often asked in societies around the world today (Why is a dead son worth more than a living daughter), or you’ll dismiss the question as irrelevant because of its connection to a time long ago and a place far away.

You’ll either be curious and intrigued by the philosophy of The Way (which espouses equality for both sexes and holds a special reverence for women and The Great Mother, source of all life and sustainer of the Earth), or you’ll presume The Way (of harmony and balance) was simply a cult with no relevance for the world or individuals.

You’ll either acknowledge the presence of evil in the people and situations Anna encounters throughout her young life, or you will dismiss the concept of evil as having any reality whatsoever.

You’ll either find yourself captivated by first-time author Kristen Wolf’s imagination, or you’ll put the book down muttering “blasphemy” under your breath.

You’ll either reflect on how today’s world might have been if people had followed The Way rather than their own ways, or you will hold firm to a position that “that was then, this is now” and not take anything useful from the book.

Author and scientist Carl Sagan was right when he noted that “A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic” and author Kristen Wolf deftly weaves magic in the concept of an androgenous-looking girl (Anna) who, to protect her identity, adopts the name of Jesus (her infant brother who died at birth) when sold by her father to a wandering band of shepherds.

Whether you believe (as one character in the book noted) that “women are like weeds and from time to time, need to be hacked down”; whether you believe (as Anna noted) that “being a woman … is a curse,” this audacious novel opens Pandora’s Box on women’s equality, feminism, transformation, deception, love, betrayal and yes, Jesus mythology.  It will undoubtedly give rise to passionate discussion and controversy in book clubs, families, friends, on-line discussion groups. 
Whichever position you take, you will not forget this book.