- Hardcover: 431 pages
- Publisher: Kepler Press; 1st edition (30 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0971377030
- ISBN-13: 978-0971377035
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,704,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter
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First Sentence
NIKKI HELMIK, forty years old, huddled her face in her coat collar, far enough away from the black-clad mourners gathered in a dark clutch near the pit of the grave so they wouldn't notice her. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
NIKKI HELMIK, forty years old, huddled her face in her coat collar, far enough away from the black-clad mourners gathered in a dark clutch near the pit of the grave so they wouldn't notice her. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter,
By
This review is from: Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter (Hardcover)
Nikki Helmik is a woman who is used to getting whatever she wants from men. At a very young age, Nikki experienced abuse at the hands of her father and watched her mother turn from a vibrant woman into her father's slave. From then on, she vowed never to allow a man into her heart. So with the help of her mentor Rose, Nikki learned how to use men for her personal satisfaction and to increase her social standing. A series of strange events, however, would change the way Nikki viewed her mother as well as her own love and power issues.
Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter is actually three stories in one, each with a correspondingly different feel and attitude. The first story is about Nikki and takes place in the present day. This story has a slow unhurried almost Victorian feel with the every present attitude that men are just sources of wealth and status. The second story is about Nikki's mother. This account is more energetic but containing the energy of frustration, sacrifice, and trying to do the right thing despite the personal costs. The third story is about Anne Cleves, a powerful druidic ancestor of Nikki and her mother. This story is wild, dramatic, and full of action. As each story progresses, the main character of Nikki evolves and changes from a user to a woman willing to embrace her powerful legacy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating!,
By Armchair Interviews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter (Hardcover)
Kaplan-Maxfield is the author of four novels and has taught writing and literature.
This book is a fascinating study of a woman's return to her roots, of her discoveries about her past and her feelings about love and power. Nikki Helmik, age 40, returned to her home town, Gloucester, after her verbally abusive drunken father's death. She ends up staying in the family home and leaving her life as an attorney. Nikki has been close to the powerful, wealthy, and beautiful Rose Eveless, probably even closer than to her mother, who she felt was weak for not standing up to her father. At the funeral of Ernest Eveless, Rose's husband, Nikki meets Phillip Eveless, their son, who had been sent to school in Europe after growing up in Gloucester. Philip stays in Gloucester, drawn to Nikki. Nikki cannot decide if she is really in love with Philip, and she is angry with herself and him because he is married. Nikki has always kept the power in her relations with men by keeping her relationships short and never caring too much. Their stormy affair is ended when Philip suffers a horrible fall off a cliff, after Nikki had sensed his life was in danger on his sailboat, and runs to the cove where his boat is floundering during a storm. Ernest had left a note for his son, asking him to go to Clarissa Barrow for information. It turns out that Clarissa is a "witch" who lives in the forest and hunts, with wolves as companions, to support herself. Rose has threatened to develop the old ruined part of Gloucester, called Dogtown, and the surrounding forests, unless Nikki provides her with the historic journal of Ann Cleves, Nikki's ancestor. Nikki searches for the journal, all the while having visions where she "sees" Ernest, and senses a presence in her house. The journal is the story of Ann Cleve's life; and with the help of Guy, her dog, Nikki finds it and is eventually able to translate it. A scary confrontation on All Hallow's Eve finally completes Nikki's healing. Armchair Interviews says: An absorbing read, with fascinating information on Druids and the history of Salem. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a Harry Potter for adults,
By Eliza Daniels - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter (Hardcover)
Nikki is a disillusioned lawyer from Boston who quits her job and buys out her siblings' interests in their parental homestead. She discovers her heritage includes witches and Druids, a part of the Salem witch trials and more! The treasure of this book is chapters 9-11, a book within a book. Read them first -- it is the long lost writings of Nikki's ancestor -- a druid priestess shape shifter animal spirt friend of the fairies. Like a Fellini movie or a Dali vision, these chapters whirl by with incredible visuals and visceral descriptions that take the reader on a tour de force of the entire nature of being told in the metaphors of myth and fantasy, mysticism and metaphyics. Absolutely delicious and remarkable as well. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mists of Avalon in Massachusetts,
By Deborah DeNicola "Dream Image Worker" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter (Hardcover)
Memoirs of a Shapeshifter brought me back to a book I lived with for a long time, The Mists of Avalaon. Not since 1987 have I been transported so fully into another world. Kaplan-Maxfield's story within a story follows the contemporary woman, Nikki, back into her childhood, up to the present and then into her heritage as a Priestesse/witch through her ancestor Anne Cleves. Anne's story returns us to early America and The northern shores of Massachusetts, the forests, the indians and back to ancient Irelanc. Nikki, who has had a long rocky road in her relationships with men, learns from her ancestor, how to open herself to love. It's a gripping, action-packed, heart-breaking and soul-making tale which I would love to see on the silver screen someday. Kaplan-Maxxfied's descriptions are exquisitely vivid. A big book with a big message, ancient wisdom for contemporary times
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