In The Illuminated Manuscript (Mercury Press, 384 pages, $24.95 paper), Ruth Moffatt travels in the opposite direction: into the past, but with some very interesting twists along the way. The most striking feature of this novel is its form. Moffatt intersperses her own journal entries, about the intertwined process of writing and personal growth, through a long narrative about three generations of women. A number of the entries are "illuminated" by the artist Dale Jackson's full-colour illustrations.

The main story line concerns Elizabeth, her daughter Caroline, and Caroline's niece Sophie. Elizabeth grows up in Ireland, where her father manages the estate of Sir Roger Kingsmill, a kind man who encourages her to explore his library. She becomes deeply engrossed in reading about the old Celtic religions and finds herself drawn to Goddess worship, which allows her spirit to reach "toward larger worlds" than those promised by either the Protestants or the Catholics.

Elizabeth's discoveries come to an abrupt end when Sir Roger's son rapes her, and she becomes pregnant. She is shipped off to the New World, but dies while giving birth to Caroline.

No-one in Caroline's family, including Caroline herself, knows of her true origins, except for her adoptive mother Emily. Consequently, when Caroline and her "brother" fall in love, they are both sickened by guilt and shame. His way of dealing with this is to run. He eventually ends up marrying a Native woman, and it is their child Sophie who ends up helping Caroline find her way back to her roots.

Magic, dreams, mystery-this book embraces them all. It is marked more than anything by the writer's courage, a sense that she is putting herself on the line, taking a risk, saying it not just as she sees it, but as she feels it. There is a depth here that goes far beyond the story.