The Left-Handed Spirit

The Left-Handed Spirit is the story of a young woman's journey to China. Mariana is an orphan in ancient Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. She is raised by the loving family of Marianus, who trains her in his very unfeminine craft of goldsmithing. After her adoptive mother dies of dysentery, Mariana, still feverish with illness, is visited by spirits. Word of this phenomenon spreads throughout Rome, even reaching the emperor's ears. Marcus Aurelius sends for Mariana to investigate the phenomenon and she heals him of dropsy in his legs. After this the spirits settle and life returns to normal for her family. The healing gift returns in little spurts over the years, which Mariana uses to ease her family's aches and pains. Twelve years later, Mariana is again summoned by the emperor. Now a young woman of twenty, she is reluctant to go and does not believe in her ability to heal. In the emperor's presence, Mariana meets the man who is to change her life, the Chinese Ambassador Lin Pao-jan, called Paulus. He has been sent by the Chinese emperor to find and bring a healer back to China. They ask Mariana to go on this journey, but she refuses, and in the end the Ambassador kidnaps her from her home.What follows is a two-year journey along the Silk Road over mountains and through harsh deserts. A strong love-hate relationship develops between Mariana and the Ambassador, and she also struggles to explore her talent and find inner peace. When they finally reach China, she learns that Paulus kidnapped her not to heal the emperor, but his own beloved twin brother who is dying of consumption. Mariana tries to marshal the strange forces of the god Apollo, but can only ease the brother's pain into death. Racked with grief, Mariana is summoned to the presence of the Son of Heaven, the emperor of China. She is asked to heal his three-year-old son who has taken a tumble down the stairs. Marshaling all her inner strength, Mariana plunges into the dream world of the child's coma and brings him back out. She is rewarded with her freedom to return to Rome.This is the turning point in Mariana's relationship with Paulus. They finally admit their attraction to one another and become lovers. After many months of persuasion by Paulus and his family, they marry. Paulus is soon killed by an arrow and Mariana decides to journey back to Rome to the family she has so missed and loved. After she leaves, she realizes she is pregnant with her daughter Paula, whom she gives birth to on the long journey back to Rome. There she is reunited with her loving family, and eventually with Paulus when she dies. Ruth Nichols hints at the idea of reincarnation throughout the book and especially at the end when Mariana is reunited with the spirit of Paulus. I cannot understand why this book is shelved with the children's books at the library. Perhaps only because Nichols wrote two other children's adventure books. The historical facts about journeys along the Silk Road before the time