Was it a dream? Her vision as she stood by that African river, and as she searched through the universe for the love of her soul that she'd left on a Donegal strand? This first volume of Ruth's "Kate.Pearl" epic romances, at once touching, in places tragic, love story and spiritual quest, has won many prizes both for its stirring story and for its unique style, reminiscent of Hopkins, Joyce, Yeats, and, further back, Homer and the Bible (not a style that appeals to everyone). It is deeply also deeply inspired by the sounds and rhythms of African and Irish story-telling and Ruth's childhood in the magical spheres of Celtic Ireland. Like the dream-places where, unsought, it first arrived, the details of the story are occasionally elusive, even to its earthly author . But is that not the way of our dreams?