There's this quite famous New Zealand photographer, whose work moves me, physically and emotionally. She has often taken sexuality as her theme, and in one series turned her lens on men - a man ejaculating, a naked man's bum peppered with little paper cut-out cupids, a man in a fencing mask; all men who she dressed up, framed up, and presented up.One photo in particular I love, think to be one of the sexiest and most dangerous artworks New Zealand has yet produced. It shows a woman's (at least, you think it's a woman, you might be wrong) throat, in a close crop, cut off just above her chin and just as the swell of her chest begins. Her neck is adorned with a wreath of bruises - whether these are love bites or something more sinister, it's hard to tell. The work is ambiguous, and beautiful, and hard-edged, and hot as all get out.Anyway, at a friend's wedding, I was seated with the photographer. And she was one larger than life character - lush, loud, a little screwy, full of that kind of lavish feminine power and potency that some women have and I just don't.'Waking the Moon' reminds me of the photographer, and the work. Partly because it's all about feminine power rising against the patriarchy. Partly because its all about sex and obsession and youth and youthful sexual obsessions. And partly because it is big and lush and, let's face it, pretty screwy. As it should be. This is supernatural fantasy after all, and while it's not a genre I know much about (does Neil Gaiman count? if so, he and Hand is quite far apart, mostly on the humour spectrum) this was perfect weekend fodder, when one weekend features moving house and the other features a trans Tasman flight. The story rollicks along, packed full to bursting with colourful and learned detail, and as absurd as it is, it's none the less gripping. (Although the author's use of the word 'pleached' not once but at least twice did jolt me out of the narrative ride and into a 'What the hell - that's not a word you get to use twice' moment.)What Hand does so well is evoke that first year of university, of being away from home for the first time, drinking all night, sleeping all day, skipping class to hang out with these fascinating people, the like of whom you've never met before. Of being filled to overflowing with new knowledge when you do make it to class or the library, of being punch-drunk on hormones and youth and atmosphere. The perfect book for a liberal arts 18 year-old, and not a bad one for grown-ups either.
During her first week as a student at The University of the Archangels and St. John The Divine, Sweeney Cassady becomes friends with Angela and Oliver, a pair of charismatic and beautiful young people who have been chosen for great things by the Goddess, and soon her destiny reveals itself to be mysteriously bound up with theirs. Opposing the Great Mother is an ancient brotherhood of mages known as the Benandanti, who have watched throughout the centuries for signs of a new advent of the ancient Goddess, and at last the signs have appeared. Soon the battle begins, and Sweeney remains at the heart of the conflict for decades."Waking the Moon" (1994) is a fantasy/horror tale inspired by the reemergence of The Goddess in the late 20th Century: first in the 60's and '70's as a source of energy and an object of worship, and later--unfortunately--in the '80's and '90's as a pop icon and a self-help exemplar. What each of these cultural enthusiasms failed to recall--and what Camille Paglia, for one, helped us remember--is that the Goddess has always been linked to chaos and destruction. It is not only her male consorts who are in danger (Adonis, Actaeon, Attis) but also the world in general, and civilization in particular.Don't worry, though, this is no anti-feminist screed, but an artfully crafted novel by a woman who knows not only her myths but also the darkness that those myths may release within us. The last third of the book surprised me, but it also pleased me, particularly the conclusion. Consider the story of Attis and Cebele: this ending strikes exactly the right note.
What do You think about Waking The Moon (1996)?
So, having this book in hardcover is just a thrill. It must be one of my favorite books, though I'm not particularly sure how that happened. I'm also not sure who Martha is, the person that the book is inscribed to, but I'm glad she decided she wanted to part with it.Waking the Moon is certainly the book that began my love affair with Hand's style nearly fifteen years ago. Part of it is her language, no doubt. The descriptions of the Divine and of other natural places remained as brilliant to me now as they have every few years when I pick the book up and read it for the pleasure of reading it. And each time I love and mourn the same characters over and over again, which really is the beauty of something well written. At least in my opinion. In other novels, like Mortal Love and Generation Loss, the running theme of the outsider is dealt with. Not just the outsider, but one that refuses to change (and that's more in Generation Loss, really, than the former). Her treatment of myth and ancient history never bored me. Of course, it no doubt helps that those are things that I enjoy a great deal.Hand's attention to small details, all those sensory ones that workshops and writing classes speak about, are marvelous. Particular smell which is easy to overlook, but it's everywhere from the perfume that Angelica wears to the scent of a swarm of ants.While the POV switches between Sweeny's in first person and Angelica, Annie's, and a couple others in third, it doesn't detract. For me, it's a good merge. Just an excellent read on so many levels.
—H. Anne Stoj
This book came highly recommended by two of my friends (Thank you, Jim and Anitra!). I liked the characters - they're quirky, yet recognizable - and mostly sympathetic. I loved the magical aspects of the story - the interplay between the goddess tradition and the later male-dominated religious beliefs. Two complaints: First, this is a story that goes out with a whimper, when I felt that it should have gone out with a bang. The story, and the tension builds and builds until I just knew something explosive was going to happen (and it does), but then "poof," everything is all tidied up in a too-conventional way. And second, I read a digital copy of this novel and the editing was bad, bad, bad. "The" when I suspect it should have been "die" for example. Those two complaints aside, this is well worth reading, and I will be reading (and recommending) more of Hand's work in the future.
—Stacey
This had been my favorite book for years. Despite, or maybe because of, the dark adventures our heroine, Sweeney, witnesses and partakes of, this book really spoke to me and reminded me very strongly of my own younger adventures. Also, this book introduced me to C.P. Kavafy, and I'm forever indebted to that. Even sitting here writing this review, some of that magic comes rolling back into me, reminding me of that time of my life. And Oliver, god, Oliver. Haven't read the book in about four years, and yet I'm almost crying just thinking about him.I really need to read this one again...
—Amy
