Pilgrim of the Sky

Pilgrim of the Sky is a well-written novel by Natania Barron about a young woman named Maddie Angler who is struggling with changes in her life. Alvin, her fiancé, disappeared without a trace about a year before, and she is having difficulty moving on because of the uncertainty. His mother, Mrs. Roth, believes he committed suicide, but his mentally slow brother, Randy, is convinced he is merely "away."

When Mrs. Roth convinces Maddie to take Randy on a trip to Boston to return some of Alvin's books to his colleague, Dr. Keats, Maddie is unsure since she discovered that Alvin was having a torrid affair with Dr. Keats' wife prior to his disappearance. After arriving at his home, she becomes entranced with an ornate Victorian mirror that seems out of place in his dusty home. She is even more shocked when she is apparently transported to an alternate world via the mirror, one in which she is married to Randall Roth, who looks decidedly like Randy. She soon discovers that she is inhabiting the body of Matilda, an evil, opium-addicted fashion designer who is cheating on Randall with a number of people. Maddie must stand by idly as Matilda does the most dastardly things, all the while wondering what is happening to her own body in her world. She discovers that there are Eight Worlds and in each world exists a "twain" of her, Randy, Alvin, her current lover, Ian and a number of others, and some of these twains can travel between worlds. Alvin has set about to destroy his other twains in the remaining worlds in an attempt to become an all-powerful god, and Maddie may be the only one capable of stopping him. As she discovers more about herself, the alternate worlds and just what her powers are, she becomes determined to conquer all through the power of love.

Pilgrim of the Sky is a peculiar book, but an interesting one. There's a lot of story to absorb and the characters skip about through different worlds, so it can be difficult to keep it all straight in your head. While the story did have a definite end, only Worlds One, Two, Six and Eight were truly explored and I have a feeling there may be a sequel in the works in the mind of the author to explore the other worlds.

If you are not a fan of fantastical stories, then you probably won't change your mind with Pilgrim of the Sky, but if you enjoy fantasy and science fiction, you may enjoy it. Check out the Amazon link below to read the first few pages and see if it is for you.