The strikingly glamorous Selene Catcher, an American scholar renowned for her books on Italian Renaissance art, is obsessed by a fierce devotion to the ancient Moon Goddess, Artemis. Selene's domineering father, who both worshiped and betrayed the Goddess, named his infant daughter for the Goddess's virgin form, setting the stage for the eventual disintegration of Selene's brilliant and tormented personality. The story is told by her friend Giovanni Corio, an Italian priest, who watches in disbelieving horror as Selene sinks deeper and deeper into her pagan faith. Her bloody rituals begin to affect her writing as she passes inexorably through the mythic phases of the Goddess: from Selene, the cold intellectual...to Artemis, the chaste and vengeful Huntress...to Hecate, the Sorceress--creator of nightmares and spells. But Selene's passion for the fascinating and mysterious Victor Bellacera threatens to overcome her devotion to Artemis. Fearing the Goddess's famous wrath, determined to appease Her by any means, Selene will stop at nothing to implore Her favor and forgiveness. Sweeping from Renaissance Florence to the deep forests of America, Renaissance Moon is a chilling tour de force from the author of the acclaimed Commonwealth Avenue.
Linda Nevins Book order




- 1997
- 1996
Commonwealth Avenue
- 436 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Zoe Hillyard, a forty-year-old film production designer, returns to Boston to work on a film set, where she unearths old family secrets and rivalries. The discovery of her great grandmother's diary from 1902, written at the same age, intertwines her present with the past, prompting Zoe to reflect on her life and choices. This journey of self-discovery explores themes of heritage and the impact of family history on personal identity.