Circles of Stone by Joan Dahr Lambert [Book Review]
Judge a Book By Its Cover?
Sometimes, I judge a book by its cover.
I admit it: sometimes, I judge a book by its cover. The rocky interior of a cave looks out through a circular opening upon a placid lake that reflects the image of a mountain situated on the far side of the lake. A full moon has risen above the horizon and oversees the play of light and shadows that indicate nighttime and suggest secrets to be uncovered. The cover illustration by Greg Harlin (http://wrh-illustration.com) is beautiful and mysterious and draws me in, enticing my desire to know more.
Or By Its Title?
The title, Circles of Stone, sparks mental images of Stonehenge, hinting at the ancient and the unknowable. I have no idea how this book came into my personal library; I have been known to pick up books at thrift stores, used books fairs, and as cast aways. It sat in my storage unit for probably near to a decade, though it survived several cullings that sent less inspiring covers to the used book store. Recently, after becoming determined to minimize and stop paying for storage, I felt this book call out to me to finally be read.
What’s Hidden Inside
Have you ever thought about how, before you open the pages of a book, its contents are resting there, silent, unmet, unrevealing of the adventures and treasures held within? Sure, the title, the cover, the blurb on the back, and sometimes a few select reviewers’ comments—all of these elements attempt to hint at what hides inside. These can help a reader decide if the work is likely to appeal. I can only attempt to share my impressions of this novel and of the gems it reveals and may reveal to you if you are open to its messages.
A Prehistoric Premise
Each Zena encounters natural disasters, biological challenges, and personal threats that she must respond to with wisdom and strategy . . .
What a delight to finally read this novel by Joan Dahr Lambert! In Circles of Stone, Lambert invokes the tradition of Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear, creating a prehistoric world replete with natural dangers and wonders. The book follows the lives of three different wise women, leaders of their tribes, named Zena, each a distant descendant of the one before her. Each Zena encounters natural disasters, biological challenges, and personal threats that she must respond to with wisdom and strategy in order to protect her people and guide them into the future survival of humanity.
Prehistoric Spirituality?
Lambert endeavors to paint a picture not only of these people’s physical world but also their interior, spiritual world. Imagining a matriarchal world in which the people recognize the Mother as life-giver, Zena’s people experience an intimate connection with the Great Mother. The cultural structure and moral expectations of each Zena’s band or tribe is informed by their worship of the Great Mother and reverence for their wise-woman leader.
Each Zena’s initiation into a direct relationship with the Goddess is guided by an elder wise woman who also teaches her the skills of a medicine woman who can heal with herbs, and later, energetic manipulation. As each Zena meets her unique threats and challenges, she is guided by mystical visions from the Goddess that aid her in decision-making with supernatural understanding of their tribe’s situation.
Anthropological Influences
At the back of the book, Lambert gives us Author’s Notes that establish some details of anthropological understanding upon which she based these characters and the contexts within which they live. Part I takes place in the Great Rift Valley of Africa, 1-1½ million years ago. The Zena of Part I was likely a late Homo habilis, very much like humans but without much speech. Part II takes place as the tribe of characters travel from the Rift Valley to the shores of the Red Sea, between 500,000-200,000 years ago. Zena of Part II was an early Homo sapiens at a time when the people were likely transitioning from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, and they encounter other pre-humans in the form of Australopithecus boisei and Australopithecus africanus. Part III takes place in what are today the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, 50,000-30,000 years ago. In Part III, Zena is a Cro-Magnon type of Homo sapiens, and her people encounter blonde-haired, blue-eyed Neanderthals driven south by the spreading Ice Age. Lambert expertly weaves into her fictional account of the lives of the Zenas a number of factual discoveries representing their time periods, including an ancient arrangement of large stones in a circle, voluptuous carvings of the Mother, and the oldest known cave paintings of bison.
Feminist Intentions
By her own admission, Lambert was “an academic who accidentally became a novelist.” (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APO60K/about) Having done graduate studies in the evolution of human sexuality, Lambert set out to examine women’s contributions to human evolution. Indeed, the characters’ relationships with and views on sex, pregnancy, and the roles of women in their communities are prominent (though not overly explicit) in this novel. The book is a distinctly feminist text, pointing out how the natural, violent tendencies in men must be checked by an elevation of women and their role as life-giver, as well as veneration of the Goddess. The secret knowledge, and eventual revelation, that men also play a role in reproduction has significant ramifications on their lives and culture. While the predictable end to their cultural milieu ultimately leads to the development and dominance of the patriarchal cultures we have today, Lambert leaves her readers with significant hope for a future reintegration of the value of the life-giving Mother in balance with that of the Father.
Lambert leaves her readers with significant hope for a future reintegration of the value of the life-giving Mother in balance with that of the Father.
My Only Complaint
If I were to have any complaint about this novel, it would be that I would have liked even more description of the Mother-cult that guided the Zenas and their people. The characters in this novel are primitive in nature and encounter very real physical adventures and challenges, so I would expect their worship to be more based in physical rituals than what Lambert gives us. I think Lambert missed an opportunity to explore the development of earth-and-Goddess-based religion and its associated practices, which would have added color to the story, even if she had to fabricate their origins. As it is, she centers on a relationship between the Zenas and the Mother that is primarily conveyed through dreams and visions—a powerful relationship, indeed.
Share Your Thoughts
It is my fervent hope that you will enjoy the unfolding of the lives of the Zenas and the special spiritual relationship that they each have with the Goddess. If you decide to read this book (which is now available as a self-published e-book on Amazon), please consider returning here to comment and share your experience.
[Circles of Stone was published in 1997, and Lambert has since added two more novels to what has become The Mother People Series.]