The Witch Of Portobello

By: Paulo Coelho

Publisher: Harper Collins

# of Pages: 268

ISBN-10: 0-06-133880-X

CDN $29.95 US $24.95

5 Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Every time I think of the famous Portobello Road in London I can’t help but sing the song about it from the Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks ‘Portobello Road, Portobello Road. Streets where the riches of ages are stowed.’ This adage seemed definitely fitting for Paulo Coelho’s newest endeavour into the realm of mystic, magic and wisdom. Reading a Paulo Coelho book is like discovering fire; you want to tell everyone about it, you become mesmerized by the glow and you know to be respectful of it.  

So I gingerly opened The Witch Of Portobello with a reverence that is intensified by the eleventh book of Coelho’s I am about to read. My sticky bookmarks are at the ready to capture the pearls of wisdom that seems to roll off his pages. So much anticipation for Coelho’s books might make some writers nervous and become inflicted with a dreaded case of ‘writer’s block.’ Not so for Coelho as his own personal explorations in life tend to become fodder for his international audiences. It is a passing on of a story or an understanding that Coelho brings to his books, that removes the pressure to ‘think up something new.’  

The Witch of Portobello harks back to the story of The Alchemist. The boy Santiago in The Alchemist is replaced by the young woman Athena in The Witch of Portobello, but they are both souls searching for answers and willing to ask questions and take leaps of faith. Athena, who was adopted by a Lebanese couple from a Transylvanian orphanage turns into a head strong young woman with passionate inclinations towards her gypsy roots. Although we learn of Athena’s journey, what is most intriguing is her story is not told by herself, a narrator or as third person. The reader finds out about Athena’s life from other people, those who knew her; a journalist, an actress, her mother, her ex-husband, her boss, and so on. 

As it turns out, this auspicious and enigmatic young woman who was quickly accumulating followers for what her magical skills could do appears to have been brutally murdered one night. As any Coelho book reveals, often the ends are not what they first might seem to be and Athena’s life is not what one individual person knew about her. Athena’s life told through those who know her is a strong example of how people are perceived, but also what we bring to a community and how it is our interactions with our community that often shape who we become. 

The Witch Of Portobello also increases the value of the personal legend aforementioned in The Alchemist. Coelho gives us little nuggets of wisdom to use in our daily lives such as ‘teach others to be different’ (now my Mum said ‘be different’ for years when I was growing up, but somehow Coelho saying it made so much more sense!), or ‘you are what you believe yourself to be,’ or ‘don’t try to convince anyone of anything. When you don’t know something, ask or go away and find out.’ Coelho also delves into Jung in this book as he did with The Alchemist. Both books are similar in many ways, but are different reads, gaining a different learning curve from each text. 

Well worth reading, The Witch Of Portobello is splendid and complex. Enjoy the familiarity of Coelho’s style of writing and devour a new story of learning from a great teacher. Class in session!

To read the article Paulo Coelho's World by Kindah Mardam Bey and learn more about this author's books, click here