The Witch of Portobello: A Novel

New York Times Bestseller

“An incredibly beautiful read.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

How do we find the courage to be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are? A novel of daring and unconventional living by the author of The Alchemist.

The Witch of Portobello tells the story of Athena — born in Transylvania, adopted, raised across continents — a woman whose fierce spiritual gifts and refusal to conform made her magnetic to some and deeply threatening to others. We meet her after her death, through the voices of those who knew her: her mother, her ex-husband, her lovers, her disciples, her enemies. Each account contradicts the others. None of them, alone, tells the whole truth.

What emerges is the portrait of a woman on an uncompromising quest to understand the divine feminine — through dance, through ritual, through the ancient traditions she sought out and embodied — and the world's complicated response to a woman who lived that openly and that freely.

The Witch of Portobello is a transporting read that will challenge you to find the courage it takes to be true to yourself, even when — especially when — you're not sure who that is yet.