Lonely in the Heart of the World (Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

This is our first novel,  an 832 page literary mythological fairy tale that blew us away with its power, intelligence, and flat out amazing writing.

Mindi Meltz is an author of Beauty.

From The Midwest Book Review:

An epic saga of the first order, Lonely in the Heart of the World establishes author Mindi Meltz as an outstanding literary talent able to deftly weave a complex novel replete with plot twists and memorable characters with a prose that at times approaches a kind of poetry. A contemporary approach to a kind of fairytale mythology, Lonely in the Heart of the World is a completely entertaining work that would grace the shelves as an enduring popular addition to any community library collection.

From Publishers Weekly:

The search for love resonates throughout this fiercely imaginative epic. A princess/goddess flees her glass tower to find the prince who was supposed to rescue her. Named Lonely by the wind, she embarks on a voyage of discovery that includes a unicorn, a wily huntress, gods and goddesses, and a prolonged reflection on why we live. In contrast, independent Delilah has no need for love; she opts for a desert existence but finds her solitude threatened by Dragon, a youth impelled to go on his own quest. The City, built by Lonely’s father at the heart of the world, exalts technology but stifles the spirit of another, unnamed character. In her leisurely but potent narrative, Meltz (Beauty) sustains a rhapsodic tone that embraces both the sacred and the decidedly profane, and presents humanity as both threatening and compassionate. The disparate elements harmonize in unexpected and startling ways. Sometimes gushing, frequently heart-tugging, and always gripping, despite its length, this tale will reward the reader with a pantheistic glimpse of destruction, rebirth, and the tantalizing nature of desire and union. (Starred review.)

From Foreword Reviews:

“There was a time when people worshipped the Earth, and the gods they saw moving through it, and they had advanced ways of communion between their spirits and the spirits of the elements. We no longer know many of those ways…” a wise woman tells Princess Lonely, one of the protagonists in Mindi Meltz’s latest novel, Lonely in the Heart of the World. Humanity’s disconnect from nature—as well as meditations on fear, love, loneliness, loss, and identity—are packed into this sweeping epic. She composes luscious prose that contains many universal truths, with the writing never sounding pretentious.

Lonely and the other protagonists dwell in a realm where fairy-tale concepts collide with modernity and industrialization as represented in a place known only as the City. Other protagonists searching for a sense of themselves include Mira, an abused child hiding in the body of a unicorn; Delilah, a young woman who once lived in the polluted City, but who now ekes out a rough living in the desert as she longs for human touch; Dragon, a demigod of fire who yearns for a sexual companion; and Sky, a god searching for love.

Meltz delights in upending the conventions of fairy tales, even as she pushes the boundaries of the genre in new ways. For example, Lonely appears to be the stereotypical naïve princess in a tower waiting for her prince, but because the hero does not appear, she gets herself out of her predicament and begins the journey on her own. The fantasy elements of princesses, demigods, and archetypal quests mesh well with the recognizable industrial destruction of the City because of Meltz’s deceptively simple, lyrical prose. The style also allows Meltz to weave a theme of environmentalism through her story while still sustaining the novel’s fairy-tale air.

The plot moves at a leisurely pace, allowing time to glory in adages such as: “What is giving, but some mysterious will that causes life to move from one being through another?” Meltz pens evocative description as well, speaking of “Fear [being] a constant spirit in the horse’s life,” and “she is safe inside the oblivion of flesh …” Among such lush phrasing, the use of the F-word shocks.

The author brings readers into the heart of her world with ease, making all plot strands tie together in a convoluted, yet comprehensible way. Although they remain motivated to seek love, Lonely, Delilah, and Mira all emerge as females with fortitude in the face of adversity.

E-version now on Smashwords.         Luxuriate in the color interior.

Besides some of the most beautiful writing you will ever have the good fortune to read, the book is graced with art, calligraphy and illuminated letters.

“Lonely in the Heart of the World is an ancient mystery tour into our connected future. Mindi Meltz explores the deep nature of the City that is build upon the heart of the world. She decries the establishment of that City through resource extraction, alienation and brute force, but then provides some keys to understanding the spirits and gods that animate the City, hints at what came before it, and strives to discover what lies beyond it.

Lonely’s quest is a poetic initiatory journey of a woman discovering the true world and her own place among the gods of our connected world. Lonely struggles with the dangers and consequences of abandoning the ancient rites and Mysteries. She finds her way to the power of love in an attempt to heal herself, and then her world. Lonely’s journey is our collective story.”

~Donald P. Dulchinos, author of Forbidden Sacraments: The Survival of Shamanism in Western Civilization, and Neurosphere: The Convergence of Evolution, Group Mind, and the Internet

Here are links to two Vimeo videos of Mindi Meltz’ talk at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville October 2013.

Mindi Meltz on writing Lonely in the Heart of the World: https://vimeo.com/80861217

And here she gives a beautiful reading from the beginning of the book:  https://vimeo.com/80889717

Download the first chapter free at Mindi Meltz’s page:

www.mindimeltz.com