Title: Lizla, the Daughter of Isis: The Birth of a Soul in a Crumbling Empire
Author: Lilian Nirupa
Publisher: Author’s Tranquility Press
ISBN: 195945305X
Pages: 200
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: David Allen
Hollywood Book Reviews
The mythology they taught back in grade school was heavy-handed, unapologetic, and freighted with dozens if not hundreds of names – gods, goddesses, demiurges, Titans – the whole nine yards. What they didn’t tell us: once you get beyond skin deep, cosmologies, origin stories and religious tales all bear the same narrative imprint. They tell the same story, in numerous guises and disguises.
People of the Book – Christians, Moslems, Jews – will recognize themselves and the struggle of their heroines in Lizla, The Daughter of Isis: The Birth of a Soul in a Crumbling Empire. The book is set near Memphis, a religious and historical crossroads of great significance in what was once known as lower Egypt. Lizla calls to mind other stories of spiritual growth and eventual mastery, such as Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and the occult writings of Dion Fortune and Alexandra David-Néel.
Lizla is a princess raised as a priestess in the service of the goddess Isis. Lizla has a wealth of spiritual worthies as mentors, friends, and confidantes. Author Lilian Narupa succeeds in imparting the sense of mystery and magic surrounding the temples of the deities. The princess/priestess’ world is colored fully by complementary cultures; we see these systems of belief as they might nervously flourish alongside each other in an alternate metaverse. The book is an excellent introduction to the late 21st Egyptian dynasty and to deities including Isis, Horus, and Osiris. Frequent allusions to yoga practice and to Hindu belief make this ‘ancient’ tale truly diverse and modern.
Lizla’s destiny is to save her beloved country from division and chaos. She is joined in this by Mizzia (“a dark-eyed witty Babylonian girl who served in Aunt’s nursery”), Mikos of the blue eyes, and her cousin and eventual partner, Psusennes.
There are memorable stops along the way: astrology and sacred mysteries classes, a visit to The Temple of Love, and a portentous eclipse of the sun by the moon. Lizla: The Daughter of Isis succeeds on many levels. It is at once a thriller; a love story; an evocation and paean to Egyptian (and world) theology.
Ms. Lilian Nirupa has a deep understanding of philosophy and ancient cultures, beliefs, and religions. Story cycles such as Lizla’s may pitch susceptible readers headlong into further study of The Golden Bough and Joseph Campbell.