The Giuliana Legacy
by Alexis Masters
List Price: $14.95
Pages: 500
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1558747850
Publisher: HCI, The Life Issues Publisher
Described by Publishers Weekly as an "imaginative evocation of a spiritual
lineage," The Giuliana Legacy is a love story and a story of Divine Love--and
the saga of one woman, Julia Giardani, and her awakening to her soul's
true purpose and passion. Julia's mystical awakening leads her on a quest
to save her ancestors' ancient spiritual tradition from extinction and
kindles her passion to aid humanity in its timeless search for love and
redemption. Readers will delight in this sweeping, inspirational saga.
Its sensitivity, epic scope and timeless truths render The Giuliana Legacy
a true tale of the millennium - one which will fascinate readers and resonate
in their hearts and souls for many years to come.
The Giuliana Legacy traces
Julia's discovery of the frayed threads of a tapestry of mystical and
healing traditions - threads only she can reweave. To recapture and reweave
them into a pattern relevant to her world, Julia must travel from her
native California to the distant island of Cyprus, her legacy's primal
source, then on to the rustic hills of Tuscany, where she finds and revitalizes
the abandoned family farm, discovering also its Sacred Gardens - the magical
realm of the Giardani Goddess. There, among the ghosts and legends of
her Etruscan ancestors, Julia's true inheritance unfolds, allowing her
psychic gifts to flourish.
Bound to Julia's destiny are
three others: Andrei Anatolin, the Russian expatriate, gifted telepath,
wandering savant and would-be monk, whose love for Julia draws him relentlessly
to her and her cause; Madame Racine, the eternally elegant Parisienne
and legendary player in the quest for world peace, whose loyalty to Julia's
family compels her to risk her life's work; Gregor Danilenko, the sinister
ex-KGB general who will stop at nothing to destroy Julia so that he can
possess the priceless Giardani heirloom he believes will grant him immortality.
Julia knows she must find the
heirloom before Danilenko, for only then will she hold the key to The
Giuliana Legacy and be ready to truly serve as the Giardano Heiress, the
healer and guide who helps others discover and devote themselves to abiding
Divine Love. But first, she must surrender to and survive her ineluctable
destiny: a deadly confrontation in which she must offer her life in order
to uphold the eternal power of Love her family has always served.
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1. What are the similarities between the first images of setting in the prologue and the first chapter of The Giuliana Legacy? How are the specifics of the settings important? What is the significance of the similarities? Where else in the novel do these specific images reappear?
2. Setting, time, and place are important elements in any novel. Visionary fiction expands the parameters of time and space to include, for instance, multiple lifetimes and electromagnetic ley lines. How is the opportunity for this kind of "expansion" utilized in The Giuliana Legacy? How is it thematically important?
3. Sometimes setting itself is a "character" in a novel. Without preaching ecology, one of the themes of this novel is the reclamation and preservation of Earth's abundance. Explain how and why this works in The Giuliana Legacy.
4. The battle of good and evil is often utilized as conflict and/or theme in literature. What are the dimensions and stakes of the battle of good and evil in The Giuliana Legacy? How is it typical? How is it different? How does the female protagonist make the battle different?
5. What specific qualities and characteristics make Julia the unique heroine she is? How is Anatolin different from other male protagonists?
6. Julia and Madame Racine are each women characters of great courage. What adjectives would you use to describe the courage each draws upon, for example, forthright for Julia's courage, refined for Madame Racine. How has Madame stayed grounded in her courage for such a long time? How does Julia become grounded in her courage?
7. How is heritage different from heredity? How do each affect Julia and Anatolin? Is it easier to have been taught or to discover ones heritage?
8. The Giardano Goddess is derived from the Greek Aphrodite, known to us as the Goddess of Love and Beauty, or sometimes Desire. How is Her image in The Giuliana Legacy different from the popular one? How is She more or less the Goddess of Love than the one you have read or been taught about before? How do you respond to Her more encompassing powers in The Giuliana Legacy?
9. How is "La Vecchia Religione" of Julia's family different from what comes to mind when you think of witches? How did encountering the Italian witches, the strege, in The Giuliana Legacy affirm or change your conception/perception of "witches?"
10. Is it clear to the reader from the beginning that Julia and Anatolin are soul mates? How does the reader come know this? What dimensions are added to normal sexual/emotional attraction, no matter how deep, when the attraction is also the meeting of soul mates?
11. While very little is actually known about the Sacred Marriage of ancient times, it is often portrayed today in stories involving sacrifice and sometimes dismemberment. How does the portrayal in The Giuliana Legacy contrast with what you may have read elsewhere?
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"Alexis Masters offers a work of "visionary fiction" ... readers will enjoy Masters' imaginative evocation of a spiritual lineage... "
—Publishers Weekly
"Sure to appeal to individuals who enjoy ancient Goddess lore and history... "
—Magical Blend
