Celtic Love: Ten Enchanted Stories

By Caitlín Matthews

Book Overview

"Here are faithful lovers, women who entice or endure, couples who contend or who are contented, eternal triangles that evolve around the marriage of May to December and the younger man, lovers lost and found, emotions that are harmonious or touched by the fiery sear of jealousy. Erotic and secretive or blatantly celebrated, here the love stories come from the heart of passionate Celtic tradition."
-- from the Introduction

In ten beautifully written tales of devotion, Celtic Love shares "the one story worth the telling," the one that strikes most nearly to the heart, the one we most with to hear. Evoking the passion and longing of Celtic tradition and history, Caitlin Matthews captures the untamed natures and amorous yearning of these age-old stories. Throughout this collection, the desire of the lover for the beloved is fanned "by restraint, by absence, by whisper or glance, by stolen kiss, by secret embrace, by song, poem, and story."

Matthews recounts stories of love defeated, and love triumphant, in the tongue-in-cheek parable of Mongan and the forgotten British myth of Fflur, the Flower Bride. "The Casket of Memory" travels through worlds and lifetimes in Midir's faithful search for his beloved Etain. The final story, "What Women Most Desire," told by the street-wise faery Ragnell, puts true love to the ultimate test.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062516094
• ISBN13: 9780062516091
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.4" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Love stories from Celtic mythology

These love stories brought out the personalities in the mythology, that can often be dry. I loved these, and with Christmas coming, can think of some good friends to send this book to! I would have made it more than five stars if I could have.

A Story of Love and War

Celtic Love is an enchanting 10-story book which revolves around what humans know best -- LOVE. The stories contained in this book are each about the love that a woman and man share, how they come about this love affair, how they are broken apart, and finally how they are brought back together. Lovers are broken apart by war, kidnapping, marriage to another, pride, religion, and/or death. They are brought back together by love and love alone. Sometimes, however, if death does occur, the lovers cannot rekindle their relationship that they once had.I love this book because it takes you to the world in which the writer, Caitlin Matthews, is in when she writes the book, and to where the lovers are when the plot is taking its place.