- Paperback: 1 pages
- Publisher: Time Warner; New edition edition (Oct 3 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0751531561
- ISBN-13: 978-0751531565
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 10.8 x 3.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 236 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,476,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In a historically cloudy page-turner, Wood (Perfect Harmony) splices past and present, covering 2,000 years on the California coast. Erica Tyler, a talented anthropologist haunted by a professional mistake, sees the excavation of a collapsed pool in an exclusive Los Angeles suburb as an opportunity to restore her reputation. She persuades her reluctant boss to give her the case, even though she will have to work with Jared Black, an old adversary employed by a state agency that protects indigenous interests. In a parallel narrative, Marimi, a Topaa Indian, is expelled from her clan when she embarrasses the shaman by saving a young boy predicted to die. She and the boy, led by visions, walk for miles to an area they can settle. As Erica's dig proceeds, she meets opposition from the Indian community, local residents and the state; threats and violence soon follow. Complicating the dig further is Erica's powerful attraction to the enigmatic Jared. As each new artifact and clue is discovered, the narrative returns to the tale of Marimi's descendants, some of whom are blessed with foresight. Erica is driven to resolve the mystery of the site for personal reasons; raised in a series of foster homes, she is deeply conscious that she has no family history of her own. The novel concludes in the present, neatly twining all of the stories into an unsurprising but upbeat finale. Erica's theories are too consistently accurate to be plausible, and Wood does her readers a disservice by failing to provide better clarification of what is fact and fiction, but her fans will likely welcome this flawed yet engaging tale. Agent, Harvey Klinger. Foreign rights sold in 12 countries.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Booklist
The story of Marimi and her female descendants spans back 2,000 years to the native Californian Topaa Indians and the role of tribe shaman, which passed to each of these mystical women as a descendant of the first mother. The history of the Topaa women reveals itself to archaeologists when an earthquake rocks an elite Santa Monica community and unearths a cave inscribed with pictographs and puzzling relics. Archaeologist Erica Tyler becomes obsessed with discovering the story behind the mysterious cave, and in the background the story of Marimi and her people begins to unfold, beginning in prehistoric California and continuing through the Spanish Inquisition and the gold rush colonization, which ultimately obliterated the natives' way of life. Wood's writing is rich with history and time travel. Tradition and respect for the bounties of the earth were the core of the Native American's lifestyle, and Wood does a wonderful job of conveying the richness of their spiritual life and bringing to light their current struggle with archaeologists for entitlement over ancestral burial grounds. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Erica gripped the steering wheel as the four-wheel-drive vehicle flew up the dirt road, caroming around boulders and slamming into potholes. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Erica gripped the steering wheel as the four-wheel-drive vehicle flew up the dirt road, caroming around boulders and slamming into potholes. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Generational Tale of Discovery,
By
This review is from: Sacred Ground (Hardcover)
When Erica Tyler, a controversial archaeologist, takes a stand regarding the discovery of the 2000 year old bones of an aboriginal woman found after an earthquake disturbs a cave in the Los Angeles region of Southern California, she embarks on an incredible journey of love and self-discovery while uncovering the story of an unknown Indian tribe whose history parallels that of the state of California.As Erica battles both the Native American tribes who disagree with archaelogists interfering with the graves of their own, and her boss who is intent on turning the cave into a museum financed by a wealthy and influential benefactor, she relates the troubled story of her own past, an ordeal of abandonment, foster homes and trouble with the law. Concurrently, in an every other chapter format, Wood retells the bittersweet history of the Topaa tribe, founded by medicine woman Marimi, an outcast from an Arizona tribe forced to traverse the desert and settle her family near the Pacific ocean. Unbeknownst to Erica, the strength of Marimi and her descendants, warrior women who suffer from the dehabilitating headaches of prescience, infuse her with willpower and steadfastness of her own and with the help of lawyer and love interest Jared Black, she finds her way as did Marimi and her kin. As always, Wood weaves a powerful tale of healer women whose compassion and sense of obligation acts as a strong repellant for all things negative. Her pages on the Topaa tribe fascinate; the reader cannot help but finish this novel in one or two days. Reminiscent of Michener's 'Centennial', without the cumbersome geological first chapters, her personal stories regarding the different generations of women remind me of an adult version of the American Girls series, where individual stories are intertwined with great moments of American history to allow the reader to empathize with the times and the time's emotions. Here, Wood delivers a page-turning tale of a strong yet subjugated people who make up the backbone of today's California. Nicely done. If you are looking for a romance tale, this novel focuses more on self-discovery and the resolution of identity. As in other examples of Wood's work, Jared, although a fine masculine specimen, is depicted as more of a helpmate playing second fiddle to Erica's strong first. I also thought that the ending was a little rushed, but perhaps this is due only to the fact that usually I expect a Wood novel to be almost 500 pages. All in all this is recommended to all who are fans of Ms. Wood or like novels depicting strong women in less than perfect situations.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must-Read for Native LA residents,
By PMurphy (CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sacred Ground (Hardcover)
This wonderful book not only entertains but educates with tidbits of information about religion,history,cultural differences,geography, etc. I was mesmerized from the first page and hated to see the last page appear. Fix a cup of tea, curl up in a cozy spot and prepare to be enthralled.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting history of Los Angeles,
By Arin Groner (Battleground, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sacred Ground (Paperback)
As a California native born in Santa Monica, I've always wondered about the street names and city names, as well as what the area looked like prior to civilation invading the area.I've also been a great fan of Jean Auel and have read many other stories that talk about ancient man. This particular book is a great find for any Los Angelino or (like myself) a California native who has now moved away who also enjoys stories about Indian and ancient man. The story is pretty well-crafted and obviously a lot of time went into the research. I enjoyed seeing the progression of history through the descendants of Marima, and think the author found a great way to take a fairly contrived idea and make it into a workable story. I enjoyed the older indian stories more than the contemporary half of the novel, but perhaps that is because I am more curious about yesterday in Los Angeles than today. It gives the reader an inside look at what the people, land and customs were like and how the Los Angeles area indians fared through history.
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