Laura Adams: Sleight of Hand

I had read this book some years ago; it is written by Karin Kallmaker, under the pen name Laura Adams.  The story was a very ambitious project; it is about three stories concerning the same characters; the first story is set in the 5th Century, about St. Ursula, who was ostensibly a convert to Christianity from the She-Bear Cult, and several young women who were either members of her circle of meditation, or admirers whom she encouraged to travel with her.

The two other stories are both set in the present time, in different places.  One is of a girl called Ursula, living in England, who meets an American tourist, falls in love, and once the visitor has returned home, follows her to the US, and meets a group of mystics in the US, with whom she uses spells of defence to protect herself and her friends from an evil influence that seems to want to destroy her.  Each of these young women are associated with a specific girl in Ursula's circle, in the fifth century.  The final story centers around a girl, Autumn, who makes her living as a conjuror and card sharp in Las Vegas, who cannot remember her past.  Echoes of the adventures of St. Ursula reach back to her too, gradually enabling her to work true magic.

The story proceeds in layers, switching back and forth between the action on the ship which is contracted to carry the unwilling St. Ursula to her husband, but whose captain Ursula and her friends persuade into taking her to Rome.  Events on board that ship run parallel to crises taking place in Pennsylvania, and in Nevada.  As the story proceeds, we find Ursula realizing that her love for her companions--in particular one stalwart girl--pales in comparison to her desire for the captain's daughter, who corresponds to the young amnesiac Autumn in Las Vegas.  As the modern-day protagonists see the action on board the ship in dreams and visions, they learn all about each other, though naturally Ursula's circle of friends are jealous and suspicious of the captain's daughter / conjurist Autumn, whom they never meet in the present day, but whom they have seen in mystical scenes.

Karin Kallmaker has the gift of writing very intensely emotional prose.  In addition, she uses the chants of Hildegard of Bingen (a 10th century mystic and composer, who composed several poems and chants to St. Ursula), whose poetry motivated the feelings of Karin Kallmaker's protagonists perfectly.  While the poems express the longing of the devotees for the presence of the object of their devotion, they also beautifully express how their devotions frequently crossed the line into romantic yearning.  Ursula, as an innocent but flawed wielder of powerful magic, is the perfect pivot for the stormy passions of the girls who want to protect her, and who also yearn to join with her, but cannot relax their vigilance without succumbing to the evil force that wants to possess and destroy Ursula.

This story is the first of three books:

Sleight of Hand,
Seeds of Fire,
Forge of Virgins,

but the third book apparently never got written.  Based on the obvious difficulties of writing a piece of fiction on two layers, I could easily imagine how easy it would be for Karin K. to shrink from the task of completing the trilogy.  It would be a snap to complete it badly, but to complete it with a third book in the quality of the first two could be too demanding of anyone.  (It is also quite possible that there may have been conceptual inspiration from some human source for the first two books that has, for reasons known only to Ms. Kallmaker, slipped from her fingers.)  Still, I am wishing, and wanting, as hard as I can, that Karin Kallnaker will complete this trilogy, which could be a modern-day classic.  The confluence of music, history, witchcraft, mysticism, romance and adventure is irresistible

K. H. B