I thought the book was interesting, though slow-moving at times. It was about a mysterious woman named Athena who was adopted from an orphanage at a young age by parents from the Middle East. The unique part about the book is Coelho makes it a oral history where the people who knew Athena (or thought they knew her) tell her story. On her life's journey, Athena ends up searching for her birth mother and deeply connects with her unique spirituality, a connection that eventually puts her in conflict with fanatic Christians. It wasn't what I was expected, but it was decent. I loved Cohelo's "The Alchemist" and thought this book would be equally as good. It wasn't but it was still a good read.