The author states at one point that only a mystic can write about mysticism, or rather about the true mystic experience. Conventional language, mere words, are poor tools for expressing transcendent reality. In spite of this I found myself exclaiming again and again during my reading that I knew exactly what was being described.
The core here is that only Being can know Being, we behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold. There is a spark in man's soul which is Real and by its cultivation that we may know Reality. You can only behold that which you are. Only the Real can know Reality. If this resonates to you, if it sounds strangely familiar, then perhaps this work is for you.
The mystic is drawn to the path by the force of love- the overriding desire for union with the Absolute. It is by this power that he or she is drawn to transcendent reality. This love leads to the state of contemplation which is the subtle state of consciousness that allows access to another plane. It is a form of consciousness recognized by Plato and Plotinus as well as Augustine and Aquinas. It is that form of consciousness beyond the emotional, intellectual, and volitional striving of ordinary men- a different way of knowing.
The second half of the book is structured according to the pattern of awakening, purification, illumination, ecstacy and rapture, the dark night of the soul, and the unitive life. In no sense is it a "how-to" guide, but it is a most valuable validation for those who have travelled any way at all on the path. It has also been traveled by others.
I find it significant that the author ends her appendix of biographical sketches with William Blake's death in 1827. There have of course been genuine, accomplished mystics since then, but the materialist and rationalistic world is more hostile to the testimony of the true mystic than the "dark ages" ever were.
And yet Mystic Union is no less a reality- and no less obtainable by the boon of grace.
After all, it is to know God that is our ultimate and highest purpose- all else is secondary if not ultimately trivial.