Power of the Zila

About the Book

Mary Harpers' odyssey brings into dramatic focus; the joy, mystery and terror of the people at the foot of the Thabazimbi Mountain of South-Africa. In the Zila connection: a spiritual and physical journey, First-wife FYI – an university graduate and a woman of substance, invites Mary Harper of Ireland to visit the bountiful Ehlanzeni of South Africa, and give a series of lectures to the Bushveld women, on the Power of the Torc – the doctrine of their ethnic morality. In the shadow of Thabazimbi Mary Harper literally falls into a cryptic web spun by old Madoda Tyi, the mouth piece of the Mountain; and Ramses Mamba, a handsome rogue of mixed blood and many faces; whose destiny leads him along warpaths of Chaka-Zulu to the white bedrooms of Sandfontein. Bettie Fourie, the matriarch of Sandfontein, with Celtic connections not only held the key to the Irish woman's past, but also plots and schemes to keep Mary Harper on the farm where her son Frans Fourie, a rich Bushveld farmer, and a dynamic man of his time finds himself trapped in a web of malicious gossip. In search of her identity, Mary Harper finds herself entangled in the lives of the people, and ghosts of the Batagati when unexpectedly Thabazimbi, the prehistoric Mountain illuminates the darkest corner of her mind, stripping her naked in the mirror of her immortality. With a life orchestrated by forces beyond her control, a vicious bush tempest forces her to return to Ireland, only to discover she is with child. Five years later a letter arrives, bearing the stamp of her past – summoning her return to South Africa. Knowing destiny is a two edged sword, and would only come to rest at the marrow of time, she returns to the Bushveld with the heir of Sandfontein.

About the Author

Born in South Africa, Marthie Meyer (Mart Horn) grew up with her grandmother, a Scot with a psychic ability which stretched far beyond the universe. At an early age, Marthie had a near death experience, which changed her from a carefree child to one who could see into timeless worlds. The Zila natives on their farm, in the Bushveld of South Africa fascinated her and encouraged her to study different languages and fine arts, which connected her with people and different races of the world. Living in France in the early seventies, she got to walk in her old footsteps of many pasts and flowered in the knowledge of her experiences. Receding in Canada in the mid eighties, she furthered her studies at the University of Alberta, and UVIC. Now, retired and living in Victoria, B.C. on Sage Manor, a sea-view acreage of many voices; she composes music, weaves Renaissance tapestries, writes poetry and above all wishes to get the message of the Power of the Zila to HIV-AIDS women, who question their fate at the foot of the Thabazimbi Mountain.