Rites of the Healer

Anne Gray lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and has published a number of short stories, including A Pool of Light, which was short-listed for the Ian St. James Award. Rites of the Healer is her first novel.

Author Anne Gray creates a fascinating alternative world where the descendants of interplanetary colonists have built their society in a rich fusion of advanced technologies and ancient traditional ways of life. Sixteen-year-old Dovella is an engineering apprentice of great potential and talent, though her true vocation is for healing, for which she has a rare and extraordinary Gift. In four days, she is to go through the most important ceremony of her life, the Rites of the Healer, to join the ranks of the Healer's Guild.

But the Village is thrown into turmoil when something goes wrong with the Sacred Machine that supplies electricity. Dovella finds herself faced with a grand dilemma: only she can undertake the arduous journey to the Source Lake to fix the problem before disaster strikes. However, to do so she must miss the long-anticipated Rites of the Healer. What's more, the quickest route to the Source lies through the territory of the Hill Folk, sworn enemies of the Villagers. But as Dovella comes into contact with the people of the hills, she begins to discover that the Village history books tell but one side of the story. As she struggles to overcome her own prejudices, and forfeits her lifes dream in order to remain true to herself, she learns that within great sacrifice the seeds of fulfillment may be found.

Engaging, fast-paced and wholly absorbing, Rites of the Healer masterfully explores the importance of facing one's fears, the necessity of resisting oppression and the inescapable burden of making hard choices. Gray captures perfectly the dilemmas and joys of the contemporary teen in this thought-provoking allegory for modern times.

Children's Literature

Dovella has always been torn between two professions: Engineer to the machine that supplies the Village with power, or Healer, where she can use her special and mysterious gift to help people. At sixteen she is an official Apprentice Engineer, yet about to take the Rites of the Healer as well. But when she hears the New School, a fanatical group with supposed historical and religious ties, is about to take over the Village, Dovella suggests that she herself go to the Source of the water that powers the machine and try to get it working properly again. She is accompanied by Zagoad, a Forrester with ties to the dreaded Hill People. Through her journey, Dovella learns that much of what she was taught as a child in the Village was inaccurate or incomplete. But will she be able to trust the Hill People to help her complete her mission and save both their lands from the dark power behind the New School? In her first young adult novel, Gray tackles such issues as the power of religious fanaticism, prejudice, and fear, and shows how differences can be overcome for the greater good.

About the Author: Anne Gray lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and has published a number of short stories, including "A Pool of Light, " which was short-listed for the Ian St. James Award. Rites of the Healer is her first novel.