The Woman in the Wilderness

This historical novel catapults the reader into the religious turbulence of the 17th century. It brings to life the true story of Johannes Kelpius, a brilliant young scholar whose spiritual quest leads him from a dark Transylvanian tunnel to a forbidden gathering of initiates in Germany to a mysterious tabernacle hidden near an ancient gorge in Pennsylvania. On Christmas Eve 1815, a young German-American girl named Lydia receives three strange gifts from a dying aunt. Curious about their origins, she plunges herself into the mystery of a strange seventeenth-century community called "The Woman in the Wilderness" and its young leader, Johannes Kelpius. For the past three hundred years, stories of wizardry and witchcraft, healing and piety, have surrounded Johannes Kelpius, his brethren in the community, and their tabernacle in the virgin forest. Centuries-old traditions link Kelpius with the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons, and the alchemists' search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone. Together with Lydia, the reader learns the remarkable story of the origins of this enigmatic community, their journey to America, and their establishment of a settlement on a ridge overlooking the romantic Wissahickon Valley, just outside the infant city of Philadelphia. Here is the true story of Johannes Kelpius and his companions, brought to life as historical fiction. The Woman In The Wilderness is a vivid adventure of religious conflict, spiritual growth, and the dazzling wonder of history in the making.