The Lover's Path

A visual and literary feast for romantics everywhere. "A full-color picture book for adults that tells a wrenching story of eternal love."NPR Books

"To truly love another, you must follow the lover's path wherever it may take you . . . ."

Filamena Ziani is the much younger sister of the most famous courtesan in sixteenth-century Venice, Tullia Ziani. Orphaned as an infant, Filamena has come of age bent like a branch to her sister's will, sheltered and lonely in the elegant but stifling confines of their palazzo by the sea. Then a dark-haired stranger offers a gift that will change the course of her life forever: a single ripe plum, and an invitation to walk along the lover's path, wherever it may lead.

The Lover's Path, a moving tale of forbidden love, is a heart-wrenching story of eternal love and transformation. Through a unique combination of lyrical text, sumptuous illustrations, and retellings of famed love stories, Filamena's path is beautifully described and, finally, stunningly revealed.

Praised by The New York Times Book Review for her "quality of myth and magic," Waldherr brings to life a remarkable period in Venetian history. Her glorious celebration of romance, the feminine spirit, and the power of love to inspire will move readers everywhere.

144 pages. 46 illustrations. 

About the Author: Kris Waldherr is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer whose many books include Doomed Queens and The Book of Goddesses. She is also the creator of the Goddess Tarot, which has nearly a quarter of a million copies in print, and other card decks including the Lover's Path Tarot and the Sacred World Oracle. Visit her online at KrisWaldherr.com.

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REVIEWS

"The Lover's Path is a visual and literary feast.... The star-crossed lovers are a celebrated courtesan's virginal and overprotected young sister and a cardinal's illegitimate son. The lovers in the book are linked mythically and thematically to the archetypal lovers on the Lover's Path: Dante and Beatrice, Isis and Osiris, Tristan and Isolde, Orpheus and Eurydice, and ultimately Eros and Psyche.... Haunting."Mary Sharratt, author of Daughters of the Witching Hill and Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen

"Prepare to be transported to 16th century Venice from the first page. This novel is a feasta full-color picture book for adults that tells a wrenching story of eternal love. This beautiful fable reminded me of Erica Jong's Serenissima."NPR Books

"With this illustrated novel, Waldherr has spun a wondrous story spilling over with mythological figures, with tarot cards and personal letters. You're pulled into a vortex of a 16th century romance centered on Filamena Ziani, the younger sister of a famous courtesan in Venice. Waldherr, who based her novel on a real-life courtesan, also created the illustrations for her book."The Albuquerque Journal

"Voluptuous illustration and enthralling narrative ... in this extraordinary testament to the strength of the feminine spirit."WNBC/B(u)y the Book

"Kris Waldherr's The Lover's Path plunges readers into the mysterious and exhilarating world of sixteenth-century Venice.... A visual adventure."Women in the Arts, the Magazine of the National Museum of Women in the Arts

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BOOK EXCERPT

Chapter 1: Grace

The tale of the lover's path begins as the story of two sisters, alike as doves in appearance, but different as water and wine in temperament and experience.

At that time, I was only a girl of sixteen. For as long as I could remember, my sister Tullia

Dettagli