In her foreword to this wonderful collection of stories from around the world, Williams emphasizes that storytelling is for Simms "an act of reciprocity" with her listeners, that her voice transmits the physical sensation of the interconnection of life. Here, Simms (author of the children's book Rotten Teeth) proves that her stories can do their work without the warm medium of her voice. Writing in the spare, poetic style one would expect from a gifted storyteller, Simms allows the ancient human essence of these diverse stories to work their magic. Ranging across times and cultures, from the Caucasus to Ireland to India to Korea to Tibet to Morocco, none of these tales are about love in the usual sense. "Rather, love is what breaks open within the reader as the stories come to life in the invisible chambers of the heart," she explains in an introduction. "Love is what is always waiting within us to ignite into the fire of longing for union" In the title story, a young girl longs for the "Robe of Love." Through a series of surprising and beautiful twists and turns, she comes to possess it only to lose it. The girl learns that she must make a long journey to claim her heart's desire. Readers will savor every step of the journey that Simms creates in this work. She accomplishes the same quiet miracle she achieves in performance. As she transports us, she also leads us to sense that the union we most long for is with our own innermost being. (Nov.)
