
The Secrets of the Cave by Phillipa Bowers
The loveliest image in Phillipa Bowers’s The Secrets of the Cave is the form of a woman, carved into the rock of the cave by the flow of the spring waters. At her feet, the pure water gathers in a pool lined with pink and red crystals. The water looks blood-red because of those crystals. The Lady in the cave is never described but frequently evoked in this book, which follows a young woman in England from 1930 until the end of World War II.
Betty, the main character of The Secrets of the Cave, is the younger of two sisters living in the rural village of Oakley Vale. Betty and her sister Kate are from a long line of women charged to protect the cave. Their grandmother was an herbalist, feared but frequently consulted by the village women, and Betty has the Sight. If she touches an object, she gets flashes about the life of the owner. Be... Read More