Many of you have written to me regarding the character Bethane. She first appeared in Under The Highlander’s Spell. She’s Zia’s (heroine) grandmother and she returns in the last two Sinclare brothers’ books. A wise healer and intuitive by nature, Bethane patiently heals and guides those in need.
Most of your comments (and there were more than I ever expected) were pleased, overjoyed, relieved, grateful, about time (to name a few) that an older woman was portrayed with intelligence. And not needy, dependent, bad-tempered, toothless, or whatever other cliche that befalls the older woman.
It made me think of the many book titles that read… It’ Not Your Grandmother’s Knitting, Cooking, Sewing, etc., while it should read… It’s Not Your Grandmother’s Grandmother Anymore. Older woman, and I can’t say what age you’re suddenly dubbed with the misnomer since it seems that each age group moves old age further away from themselves, are in a class all their own. Let’s face it, we all inevitably grow old, but it doesn’t mean we have to fit the standard image.
That was why Bethane came to be. To me she epitomized an ageless woman. She faced and survived a husband’s passing, a daughter who dies giving birth and the task of raising a child in her advancing years. Then there’s her work as a healer and leader of a village she established. Not to mention teaching, so that her healing knowledge would continue with the women who chose to follow her path.
Was she a woman before her time? I believe women such as Bethane lived and thrived. They were the women who not only paved the way for those who followed, but opened it. While eventually women are believed to reach the crone years of their lives, I believe Bethane is the epitome of the crone. Not the withered old woman, but the ageless beauty who embraces life and fully lives it, tragedies and all.
Don’t miss Bethane’s wisdom, especially in the last book of the Sinclare brothers’ series, Highlander’s Forbidden Bride.
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