The Witch of Portobello
 

The Witch of Portobello

by Paulo Coelho

How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of whom we are?

That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Among them:

"People create a... (read more)

Top tags: paulo coelhospiritualityfictionphilosophywomen (all tags)

 

Member Reviews

  • Nicole R
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 3 stars

    WOW! The Olympics definitely slowed me down much more than I was anticipating but I have finally made it through this book. I think it was very comparable to other Coelho books I have read (The Alchemist, The Zahir) in that I find them a little redundant and slow reading but when they are done I am glad that I read them. This book was a little confusing to me because it is told in the manner of interviews so, each person tells their part of the story in the first-person but that person changes throughout the book. I hope that makes sense but basically I had to continuously remind myself who "I" was. Other than being a bit confusing (which was probably not helped by the fact that I read the entire book in 3-4 page segments during Olympic commercial breaks) it was a really interesting way of writing the story and I ended up liking it: you got one story from many different people who each provided a different POV. It would have been interesting though for even one "story" to be told from The Witch's POV.

    Overall, a good read about connecting with nature and those around you to fulfill your life goals and destinies.

    Nicole R wrote this review Saturday, August 16 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Sambition
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 3 stars

    the narrative about the rituals is so ritualistic that you may sometimes believe you are part of them, and you might see some light or even feel the Vertex :) I wasn't very happy that Athena died, but that made the ending even merrier!

    Sambition wrote this review Wednesday, December 12 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • hirakbhattacharjee
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 0 stars

    ok....it's different writting altogether frfom coelho..I dont have anything to say wtih the witchcrafting..but what it teaches is that, you must nead to learn from your void spaces...when we dont have anything to do...that's it you can learn.. you can learn how far we may reach to know the truth..if we have crossed our social limitations...

    At the end only one thing I can say thatthis is not a book for everyone...but if you like it then you must have to rethink.. baout ourselves...

    hirakbhattacharjee wrote this review Thursday, September 13 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Meenu
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    I m a big fan of Paulo Coelho... n this a finest work from the author again..

    Meenu wrote this review Sunday, September 9 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Luce of the woods
    • Rated 5 stars

    A wonderfully written book that delves into the concept of the feminine face of God, and in so doing explores the spiritual life of witches. Also brings forth the problem of society's discrimination and violence against pagans. As all of Coelho's books, this novel gives the reader a lot of food for thought, and a vast opportunity for self-examination. I will reread this one many times.

    Luce of the woods wrote this review 4 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • sara I
    • Rated 1 stars

    I liked the way he introduced her story ( by interviewing people from her life) but didn't like the story itself

    sara I wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • cognac h
    • Rated 0 stars

    loved the way its narrated .
    makes a great read .
    Don"t we all have a bit of "athena" in all of us ?

    cognac h wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Kimberly T
    • Rated 3 stars

    I'd give this 3 1/2. I really liked the beginning and this book is a slow-paced one but its not dragging. I have to admit though that the ending part was not so nice but its not a hanging ending.

    Kimberly T wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
Displaying 1-10 of 151 reviews
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