In retrospect, I can see that it gave me ways of seeing that helped me find the feminine even within patriarchal systems while studying religion as an undergrad. The Mists of Avalon also gave me a glimpse of spiritual possibilities beyond male-dominated, male-defined religions. Encountering the vain, self-serving, diabolical Morgan le Fay transformed into the priestess Morgaine compelled me to question other received narratives in which women are to blame for the failures of men. Bradley opened my eyes to the idea that, when we look at the past, we are only ever seeing a small part of it - and usually, what we are seeing excludes the experiences of women. I still cannot imagine anything more perfectly aligned with my thirteen-year-old sensibilities than Marion Zimmer Bradley’s masterpiece. Bradley’s reference to the island where Arthur rests made me feel like an insider, while the marketing copy suggested something radically different than anything I’d encountered before: Arthurian legend, from the female perspective. I’d even muddled through La Morte d’Arthur. White’s The Once and Future King, which had led me to Howard Pyle’s take on Arthurian legend, as well as John Steinbeck’s. She looks determined, but serene, fully self-sufficient.Īnd that evocative title! The Mists of Avalon. She is sitting on a beautiful white horse and grasping a sword by its blade. Instead, she is wearing a voluminous robe, her long, dark hair bound by a simple coronet. She’s not naked, nor is she wearing an armored bikini or an approximation of medieval dress that allows for ample cleavage. The painting on the cover stopped me in my tracks, right there in the science fiction/fantasy section of Waldenbooks at Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, Ohio. This time, we asked : What book was your feminist awakening? Novel Gazing is Electric Literature’s personal essay series about the way reading shapes our lives. Sign up for our newsletter to get submission announcements and stay on top of our best work.
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