the witch of portobello

n this book, Coelho works with the return to the goddess religion, the interpretation of love, and thefeminine part of the Divinewithin the theme of searching for ones true self and opening to the energies of the world.The question central to the story is "How do we find the courage to be true to ourselves - even if we are unsure of who we are?" The work also expounds a selection of philosophies, which bear a certain degree of similarity to Coelho's teachings from previous novels and carry the characteristic imprint of his own ideas, as well as a citation regarding the ephemeral nature of desires, which appears in most of Coelho's novels. The writer elucidates the opinion that the Church has deviated by its stringent rules to the point where it no longer serves Jesus Christ, or as put in his words in one of the interviews: "It's a very long time since they've allowed me in there [the Church]".