Paulo Coelho's "The Witch of Portobello" is the story about journey of a modern-day "witch" as told through her family, friends, and acquaintances in short narratives. As in many of Paulo Coelho's earlier novels, the book is more of an allegory depicting what seems to be almost a universal search for a sense of self. In the "witch's" case, as she attempts to fill in more and more of the "missing spaces" in her own life, Sherene comes to learn not only who she really is, but how she can teach and help other people.

The great thing about the book is that it is told from a variety of perspectives. We get a strange mixture of believers and non-believers both exalting "Athena" (as the witch christened herself) and debating her merits and contributions to society. Her own parents adopted her and loved her, but failed to understand or respect her new and unusual lifestyle. At one point in the story, her own mother even wishes she had chosen an easier child. Others learn from her teachings, even though they dislike and fail to respect her. As with any story of this kind, Athena meets many spiritual teachers along her twisted path. 

"The Witch of Portobello" has some nuggets of wisdom and is definitely an interesting read, but for me lacked a certain spark that some of Coehlo's earlier works have contained. In my opinion, "Veronika Decides to Die" was one of the most powerful of his novels because of his depiction of a woman who has given everything up (including her life) only to find herself again. "The Witch of Portobello", on the other hand, describes such an atypical woman and an atypical lifestyle, that it is harder to come out with as many gems of wisdom.

While the story is given from the perspective of mostly typical people with typical lifestyles, Athena's lifestyle was nothing if not different. From an early age, she communicated with parallel worlds, saw "ghosts" and then later sought out teachers of various disciplines to learn how to fill in the empty spaces in her own soul and life. One thing that I found fault with in the book was the idea or conception that it is necessary to seek out specially equipped  spiritual "teachers" to gain knowledge for our souls as I believe that the nurturing of a soul can come from many ways. (Not of course, that there aren't people all around us that we can't learn from.)

As Sharene begins more acquainted with her own teachings, she learns at the same time how to bring out something of the Divine in herself and becomes a conduit of sorts for high communications. Despite the criticisms I listed above, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a quick read for anyone interested in a little soul-talk.