The Mists of Avalon

A huge enthralling novel of King Arthur – one of the most perpetually fascinating of all our legends – now recast and told through the lives and visions of the women central to the story.

For the first time, the Arthurian world of Avalon and Camelot with all its passions and adventures – the world that, through the centuries, each generation has re-created in countless works of fiction, poetry and drama – is seen from the perspectives of its heroines: Guinevere, who marries Arthur while loving Lancelot; Igraine, Arthur's mother; Viviane, the majestic Lady of the Lake and High Priestess of Avalon; and, most important, Arthur's sister Morgaine, possessor of the Sight. Small, dark and intense, Morgaine herself has a passion for Lancelot which is never fulfilled; her ultimate fate is to destroy those whom she loves most, including her brother, the King.

As we follow Morgaine and Guinevere – and the immense cast of characters who surround them – we follow as well the destiny of Britain from the threat of the Saxon wars to the glory of Camelot and a world at peace, to the tragedies that accompany the death of Arthur, a death symbolisng the profound conflict between Christianity and the old religion of Avalon, the core of the book.

It is the special accomplishment of this novel that we read it as if we have never before heard the legend – yet with a total sense of recognition and sympathy. A wonderful book and a brilliant addition to the literature of Arthur.