DELPHI is the second book in author Karen Martin’s Women Unveiled series, continuing the story of Cressida some four years after her adventures in the Minoan caves in Dancing the Labyrinth. The novel works as a standalone, and new readers will soon find their feet as Martin bridges the ancient wisdom of the Greeks with a story of empowerment and destiny set in contemporary Crete.

Cressida’s almost-stable life is upended by the appearance of her wicked aunt, who wants her to return to London. In a dream, Cressida is touched by the powers of myth and mystery and seeks guidance from an ancient oracle. A parallel narrative draws on gods, monsters, and folklore as serpents and spells exert their influence on Cressida’s journey. It’s a fantastical tale that blends the tribulations of contemporary family life with the cut and thrust of legend.

Martin is unafraid to step into the realms of dream and myth interpretations, at one point referencing the Minotaur as a metaphor for a shadow existing in the subconscious. Cressida is knowingly oblivious to the subtext of the story she is involved in. When her friend Angela tells her she is being “Jungian,” Cressida picks up a random book from the shelf and begins to read aloud: “‘I seek to reveal deeper meanings behind the apparent incoherencies and meaningless of my experience I call life.’ She dropped the book and looked at Angela, eyes wide. ‘Fuck yeah.’”

Some of the descriptive prose can be a little overdone. For example: “The turquoise glassy surface of the water adapted to the sky’s turbulent mood, transmuting into darkened shades of green-blue. White tips danced across chaotic waves in a confusion of direction […].” To be fair, this is mostly during the passages that recount the ancients, an attempt perhaps to conjure an air of arcane mystery. The contemporary sections are rather more robust, particularly Cressida’s interactions with her hard-hearted Aunt Margaret—who is described memorably with some venom: “A mean spindle of a woman, with her chicken-claw hands, peaky-beak nose and harsh eyes darting with suspicion, assessing their prey.”

In the end, DELPHI is an intriguing exploration of strong female energy across the centuries and the personal liberation that comes from working together for the greater good.

At its heart, Karen Martin’s DELPHI is an invigorating story about motherhood, nurturing, and protection.

~Kent Lane for IndieReader