T'ongil
 Julian Winter
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 Stillmind Publishing
  ISBN: 0971598118
Amazon's price is: $19.95

The thirst for love. An intense story of a Korean woman & a Native American man drawn together by mysterious spirituality, love & secrets.

T'ongil is a compelling drama of loss & self-discovery, in which cultures mingle, time & space are elastic & ordinary life is infused with extraordinarily lyrical language.

Ainsley is a Native American, initiated by his Grandfather in the ways of his people, although this has left him slightly out of focus with the world in which he lives. Except when he's close to the big cats in his care at the zoo. He has a lifetime of wounds & secrets that bubble up, like an underground spring, as his heart is opened during a visit to a bordello.

T'ongil is the Korean word for connect & unify, & in this debut novel, Julian Winter has connected all sorts of scenes that are, while occasionally difficult to follow, ultimately eloquently written.

Slowly, we discover who Ainsley was & now is. What he has survived & how he loves. In sudden glimpses of brilliance, we become privy to a hard life lived between the worlds. When Ainsley's heart becomes engaged with a mysterious woman from another place, & perhaps another time, we embark upon an epic love story that will culminate in the grandest gesture of all, the giving up of one's life so that the other might live.

Intermingled with the human love story, is another, far more fierce & fascinating.

While not my usual cup of tea, T'ongil is a strange & wonder-filled read, occasionally awkward, often elegant, which literally sings.

Mesmerizing!
(11/10/02)

Rebecca