Circle the Bones with Shining by Andréana Elise

“To read Circle the Bones with Shining is to be swept into a swath of life at its most breathtaking—life eclipsed in shadow, life in all its radiance. The alchemy of grief and epiphany, infused with a love that can’t be broken, casts a spell, one that lingers long after the last word, the last image, is absorbed.”

–Barbara Mahany, journalist and author of Motherprayer: Lessons in Loving, and Slowing Time: Seeing the Sacred Outside Your Kitchen Door

“In this pulsating prayer, the rhythms of life and death are held in close accord across space, time, this world and the next. I am stunned by the tension and beauty that flow from Andréana’s pen. Her tonal shifts rattle, startle the senses, then lull into hypnotic measure before renewing the strike with a quickening note. Experiencing the world through her sensitive and discerning voice is sheer joy!”

–Helen Butler, artist, educator, and author of Mirror Bright: Reflecting the Good in Community through Performance

“Circling the Bones with Shining is not only a stirring elegy for a beloved mother, it is a call to the divine feminine to touch the world with healing grace. It is a prayer and plea for intimacy—between body and soul, self and other, God and creation. When Andréana Elise speaks, you must listen—and be changed.”

–Sandra Lynn Hutchison, editor in chief of Elixir Journal, and author of Chinese Brushstrokes and The Art of Nesting