Before the Mists obscured the Isle of Avalon, there was the Forest
House; where, in a remote part of Britain, a secret circle of Druidic
priestesses guarded the ancient rites of learning, healing, and prophecy
against the inexorable approach of the Roman Empire. Young Eilan, born
to a Druidic family, is ripening toward womanhood and the flowering of
an inner power she hardly dares dream of. Already she hears the call of
the Great Goddess - and it will be she who is ceremonially chosen as the
new High Priestess when the reigning Priestess of the Oracle dies. But
first, Eilan hears another voice - that of her love for the young Roman
Gaius Macellius, whose mission is to subdue her native land and all its
seemingly pagan ways. But Eilan must find the courage to renounce her
lover for her sacred destiny... For within the Forest House's realm also
dwell the bitter priestess Dieda, who, against her will, makes a pact
that will bind her to Eilan forever; and the rebellious young priestess
Caillean, who protects Eilan with a passion that runs far deeper than
duty. Yet it is the Arch-Druid Ardanos, by turns the High Priestess's
greatest ally and most ruthless enemy, who could destroy the Forest
House, should he learn the terrible secret Eilan guards as fiercely as
her life. The war that rages within Eilan mirrors the turbulence of her
times; as the legions of Rome move closer, Eilan must rely on the power
and magic of the Great Goddess to find her way out of the labyrinth in
which fate has placed her... Like her classic bestseller The Mists of
Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley's new novel is a tapestry of myth,
mystery, and romance, rich in the detail of the Druids' timeless
rituals. The ForestHouse is a mesmerizing epic of a woman's mythic role
at a turning point in history - brought to magnificent, unforgettable
life.
