Author: Kateřina Tučková
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Publication Date: 1 May 2022
Pages: 475
Format: eBook - PDF
Genre: Fiction
Source: ARC via NetGalley
Last in a centuries-old lineage of healing women, Dora Idesová was raised by her aunt Surmena in the White Carpathians. Resistant to superstition, Dora grew up hearing stories of the “goddesses” who were said to conjure love and curses and, through divine connection, cure the spirit and the body. Now an academic, Dora is researching the tales that for generations spellbound the hillside where she grew up. As the mysteries become truths, they reveal a stunning discovery that reaches back from the witch trials of the seventeenth century through Nazi-occupied Germany. Embarking on an emotional journey, Dora is about to find out how deeply and fatefully she is entwined with secret tradition.
Beautifully weaving together fact, folklore, and fiction, Kateřina Tučková draws on the stories of her ancestors to explore the extraordinary history of goddesses who walked the earth.
I'm still not entirely sure how I should review The Last Goddess. On the one hand, it was interesting to read about the folk beliefs and the work of the herbalists in the White Carpathians, which continued through to the middle of the twentieth century, finally halted by the advent of communism. But there were also times my attention started to drift, especially when I felt bogged down by another slew of 'official reports'. In a way these worked well as a device for the reader to discover the truth alongside Dora, but at the same time, there were so many of them it began to feel a bit repetitive towards the end. If you like historical fiction that is based on true events and which incorporates a family-history-type investigation, I am sure you'll find something to like here. For me, it was a good read, and something a bit different, but it was not mind-blowing, so I am giving it 3.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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