Cybele Marie Cotter

Shattered Vessels, Shattered Lives (2nd ed.) Cybele Marie Cotter

Shattered Vessels, Shattered Lives tells the story of three young Jewish adults from the year 1895 in the village of Eishyshok in Lithuania, who are sent by the spirit of a mystic Kabbalist on a quest through time and space to find the hidden vessels (Sefirot) containing the original Divine Light of Creation, and release their light back to Heaven to usher in the Messianic Age. The plot and characterizations should appeal to most fantasy buffs, particularly the YA market. Originally I had in mind to write a Jewish Harry Potter-style story; but as I researched I decided to take a more adult-oriented approach. For my story contains elements of both tragedy and heroism. The young people face the actual horrors of a major fire as well as the flames of the Holocaust. They confront the first couple, Adam and Eve. They meet, and are aided by, the last Rebbe of Lubavitch. They must develop a plan to reach the Well of Souls atop the heavily-guarded Temple Mount. They even travel to Gehenna! And all the while, friendship and love grows between two couples but both are tested by tribulations and terrible decisions.