Child of Duende
A Journey of the Spirit
... by Michelle Adam
A novel published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese
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“We discover, through Michelle Adam’s magical storytelling, who we are capable of being.”
—John Perkins, New York Times Bestselling
Author of Confessions of an
Economic Hit Man
“A tale of one woman’s magical odyssey to the edge where human spirits and the soul of nature dance.”
— Evelyn C. Rysdyk, author of Spirit Walking: A Course in Shamanic Power
“A provocative tale that will bring you home to yourself.”
—Author Llyn Roberts, award-winning author of Shapeshifting into Higher Consciousness
...add your own book testimonial here.
ON WRITING
My story didn't start as a novel. It began as a hunger, as a Journey I could never have dreamed of. It came from a place far beyond me-from my grandmother's spirit, and, from a collective unconscious, one we tap into when we have nowhere left to run to, when we are ready to listen. I had suffered an injury, was unable to walk without pain, and I was forced to be still, to find a place for another truth and reality to speak. This novel came from this place.
Years ago, a man of my age sat next to me, sharing a story of a screenplay he had
written. He made me laugh. I went home, reminded by his example that I was a
storyteller, and that it was my time to tell my story. I began the story of Duende.
When twenty-eight-year-old German journalist Ingrid returns to her childhood home of Málaga, Spain, it’s to cover a remarkable story: on Señor Ramos’s vineyard, the vines are growing out of control. What’s more, they appear to be bleeding. Can it possibly be true? Ingrid feels a mysterious connection to the increasingly strange events taking place in her hometown, but why?
As Ingrid’s story interweaves with that of an eight-year-old child, whose grandmother fates her with the name Duende—a word that refers to the spirit of the earth that one must awaken from within—Ingrid embarks on a journey of personal rediscovery.
Duende dances with Gypsies; travels below the sea with an earth spirit; speaks with her grandmother’s spirit; and has dreams that deeply transform her reality and Ingrid’s. Ultimately, Ingrid’s return home reveals a truth that 's been buried in the ground for millennia. Described by world-renowned teacher and award-winning author Sandra Ingerman as “a beautiful story that will take you into magical and mystical realms,” Child of Duende is a journey home.
CHILD OF DUENDE
PROLOGUE
Paco’s voice slid deep into the smoke-filled room. Silence
sifted into the space between his breaths. Crying with the
anguish of a people who had left their homeland centuries ago, he carried a song that still knew its way inside the heartbeat of the earth. Eight-year-old Duende listened. Twenty-eight-year old Ingrid barely remembered this mysterious melody that came from within.
In the small village of Málaga, on the coast of Spain,
where the Mediterranean Sea separated Europe from Africa, from the Arabic cries of “Allah,” and from the Jews’ search for their homeland, Paco and his Gypsy song remained. Duende, raised in this culture, knew this song and its origin, yet Ingrid, tossed into the modern reality of separation, had yet to find her way back.
This is the story of both, woven together by magical vines
carrying the blood of the earth and a forgotten way of living.
Book available locally in NM at most bookstores and can be ordered from worldwide bookstores.
ON DUENDE
Child of Duende was inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca's words on duende. He claimed that "the great artists of Southern Spain, Gypsy or flamenco, singers dancers, musicians, know that emotion is impossible without the arrival of the duende." He said that "duende is the spirit of the earth" that comes through the souls of the feet, and from the remostest mansions of the blood, but only if we are ready, if we have done the work to receive this spirit.
But, consider this: duende is also a ghost, goblin, and earth spirit that protects the earth. This duende is well known throughout Latin America, and in many places is a fierce protector of the forest.
One day, on a flight home, I met a Dutch woman who was living with an indigenous tribe in Ecuador. I shared with her the story of my novel, and in doing so, asked her if she knew what "duende" meant. She immediately responded," Yes, I've met one." I was shocked by her response as this woman, who had never seen spirits
or even believed in them, went on to tell me that a duende came with the wind one day, and was so physically real as it appeared before her, that she felt sick to her stomach. This duende looked like TV's Chucky doll, she said, and at that moment, I got it. This duende was fierce because it protected the rainforest, and it was as real as you and I. I got that it was time for us all to be the protectors of the earth and of our spirits as the duendes are, and for me to weave Lorca's duende with that of the earth's keepers into my novel so I could tell the full story of the duende that is within us all.