The Women’s Circle

The Women’s Circle from Karen Sepulveda is quite an engrossing story which is crafted in several periods of time. The past story is easy to follow as it is set in the 1700’s, and it shows similarities to women today. The main character is a woman called Anna. She is living in the present time and just finishing her jail sentence in Australia.

Gradually we follow Anna on her first day out of prison. For the first six month she is living in a boarding house before she is allowed to re-enter society. Her thoughts and feeling are so realistic that it is easy to relate to her fear and reactions. The other women there are on a similar path and do not socialize. Each has her own set of goals.

One of the conditions of Anna’s release is that she seeks a therapy group to join. Along with a part time job at McDonalds, this is her only outing from the house. When she tentatively joins the group, the leader is welcoming and after a session she shows Anna a large crystal. There is an instant reaction from the young woman and she begins to dream about another woman, living in the 1770’s in England.

Aisleen is the English woman whose story is told through the crystal. Learning about her struggle, Anna realizes that life is a continual challenge for people, and that she has to be strong to break away from the life she was leading.

The time travel comparisons in this story are interesting and have been cleverly woven into Anna’s struggle to move on from a disastrous past. She needs to be courageous enough to carve out a new future for herself. Aisleen also has her challenges to face in an unforgiving time. There are many interesting twists to this book.