Book Reviews Information


A Ghost in Cornwall


This land is my memories. For two thousand years this valley has been mine alone.

I know every rock, every stream and every tree. I know the forces that shape this land and the people who inhabit it.

A billion years ago this land was a migratory trail for the animals of Western Europe. They roamed freely across the huge land of one continent. Millennia passed as the rivers washed silt to the ocean and the sun raised rain to the sky. At that time the mass of Eurasia was joined. The tectonic plates shifted and islands formed, raising proud, green peninsulas on green water, thrust out to the ocean. Long before my time the forces of nature battled along the coasts of Western Europe. From the Southwest, the Gulf Stream warmed and opened the land with summer heat. From the north, ice raged and cracked the rock of what would become the British Isles.

The land tells me it was an epic struggle. The generous heat of earth, venting her spleen, the wash of the water, cooling and circulating air. Rain succoured the land and ran back to the sea, endless cycles, repeating endlessly. The earth shifted, chasms opened and the sea swept in, submerging areas and separating the islands of Britain and Ireland from the mainland.

Spouts of boiling lava spewed from the molten centre of earth to create granite formations, a source of wonder till the end of time. A great rift opened up what is now the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea, separating the land into distinct areas. Many characteristics still connect Brittany, Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall. Their joining can still be seen in place and people. But veins of power run through the sea, a matrix of energy criss-crosses the land and reaches out around our planet.

The Phoenicians, Egyptians and Greeks journeyed to these coasts even before the Iron Age, in search of Keltic wisdom, since long before the time of my youth. They followed the trail of gold and wisdom across the sea to Cornwall and then to Wales and Ireland. Later, tin trade followed these routes across Brittany and the journeys of wise men and saints to the west of land, the land of setting sun, of Gods and the quest for immortality that haunts us all. Ships and boats from the French and Spanish coasts often sailed to rivers on the south coast of Cornwall in search of trade and journey with the friendly and civilised Keltii, hopefully avoiding the pirates that have ravaged these coasts for millennia.

2000 years ago I was killed trying to save my mother from Portuguese raiders on the river, who stole the gold that came from Ireland. My story is located in the valley of one of these rivers, now called 'River Fowey'. It is a story that I have not been able to tell until now. My own story starts with the visit of Jesus of Nazareth to the river Fowey in 30 AD (according to the Julian Calendar and allowing for a seven year miscalculation). He was twenty three years old. He journeyed on a vision quest to the west-of-land, in search of the wisdom of the Keltii and union with his father spirit. I have spent much time thinking about this moment and my brief encounter with a man who claimed to be Son of God. For hundreds of years I puzzled at his smile, the light in his gaze. He had a quality of being rare in the extreme, an utter and unconditional compassion for all life.

Who am I? A ghost; Fintan, born 2000 years ago and caught in the matrix of nature unable to tell my story until now. I am here, waiting for you.

A Cornish ghost story, 'The Lily' available only at http://www.simonthescribe.co.uk/Lily.html


MORE RESOURCES:

Aslan's Country (blog)

New Book Reviews: CS Lewis
Aslan's Country (blog)
The latest from Tumnus's Bookshelf (NarniaFans.com) is a review of CS Lewis's essay collection On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (1982), ...
Tumnus's Bookshelf: The NarniaFans Book Reviews: “On Stories: And Other Essays ...Narnia Fans (blog)

all 2 news articles »


Junior News & Mail Book Reviews - July 30, 2010
gethampshire.co.uk
PERFECT for budding artists, this book showcases a fascinating collection of art from around the world and ...

and more »


Delhi, Jaipur and Agra Travel Map (Globetrotter Travel Map)
Jackson NJ Online
Posted by NJ News on Jul 29th, 2010 and filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. ...



Business book reviews
Dallas Morning News
After reading this book, I strolled through five independent retail stores to gauge how they ...



BOOK REVIEW: Historical fiction novel looks at war in Vietnam
Wausau Daily Herald
It is hard to believe that I have been writing book reviews for the Wausau Daily Herald for ...

and more »


Core77.com (blog)

Book Review: Plastic Dreams, by Charlotte & Peter Fiell
Core77.com (blog)
Plastic Dreams by Charlotte and Peter Fiell, aims to be, as it observes on its back cover "quite simply the definitive guide to plastics in design. ...



Book Reviews: The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge
Blogcritics.org (blog)
Any time a novelist borrows a protagonist – from history or from the fiction of others – he balances the uncertain task of creating a new path while ...

and more »


Book Review: Mannie's Diet And Enzyme Formula by Emanuel Barling, Jr,. Esq ...
Blogger News Network (blog)
There are two things that I have enjoyed from my earliest childhood, books and food. ...



Business book reviews
Dallas Morning News
During childhood, our parents and teachers hardwired us to "play nice" and "learn to get ...



Blogger News Network (blog)

Noah's Wife – TK Thorne: Book Review
Blogger News Network (blog)
by Sgt. Mom in Book Reviews, Reviews The title is a little deceptive, in that this is not a Bible-based retelling of the story of Noah, his family, ...


Google News

home | site map
© 2007