The Blessing Stone: A Novel

by Barbara Wood

Overview

Millions of years ago, a meteorite fell to earth and a beautiful blue stone shattered from it. One hundred thousand years ago, a girl named Tall One found the crystal on the African plain—-and it formed her destiny, as well as the destiny of generations to come. From ancient Israel to imperial Rome, medieval England, fifteenth-century Germany, the eighteenth-century Caribbean, and the nineteenth-century American West, the destiny of the stone and the history of the world unfold. Each story is full of the betrayals and obsessions of the human heart, and the quests of the human spirit. In The Blessing Stone, Barbara Wood has both told the intimate details of her characters' lives and created a sense of the epic sweep of human history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312320249
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/17/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	638,663
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.03(d)

About the Author

Barbara Wood is the internationally bestselling author of eighteen novels. She lives in Riverside, California.

Reading Group Guide

Millions of years ago, a meteorite fell to earth and a beautiful blue stone shattered from it. One hundred thousand years ago, a girl named Tall One found the crystal on the African plain—-and it formed her destiny, as well as the destiny of generations to come. From ancient Israel to imperial Rome, medieval England, fifteenth-century Germany, the eighteenth-century Caribbean, and the nineteenth-century American West, the destiny of the stone and the history of the world unfold. Each story is full of the betrayals and obsessions of the human heart, and the quests of the human spirit. In The Blessing Stone, Barbara Wood has both told the intimate details of her characters' lives and created a sense of the epic sweep of human history.

1. What do you think of the time periods the author chose to write about in The Blessing Stone? Were there any you liked more than others? Were there any you would have liked to see? Which came the most alive for you?
2. In Tall One's story, there is no actual dialogue. Did you notice this? Were the characters' motivations and intentions still clearly delineated?
3. What aspects of the ancient Middle Eastern section do you think still have resonance today?
4. Have your ideas about fate and destiny changed after reading this book? If so, how? If not, why?
5. What do you think the author is trying to say about superstitions and the power we give objects?
6. Did any historical fact or idea in The Blessing Stone surprise you? If so, how?
7. Which character in The Blessing Stone did you find the most heroic? The most villainous?
8. The author compresses time in the "interludes." How did the use of compressed time work for you in the story?
9. How did the book make you think about the history of seemingly ordinary objects?

Editorial Reviews

All in all, an absorbing adventure tale.” —Booklist on The Blessing Stone

From the Publisher