Fantasy Book-Reincarnation?

October 30, 2008 11:19 AM

I read a book in the late '80s that I really enjoyed and I've been unsuccessfully trying to remember the title (or author). It was a fantasy softcover book with a purple cover. The story was set in a small village in New Forest, England. The main characters were involved in a love triangle with the two main lovers dying and being reincarnated three different times in three different centuries before having their happily ever after. Any fantasy buffs out there that can help me?

I can't remember what they were in their first lives. The 2nd incarnation she was born a man and was a carpenter named Benjamin and he was born a woman and ended up getting burned as a witch. The 3rd incarnation he was a highwayman and she was undergoing hypnosis and discovering their past lives. Other characters who lived in the same village were reincarnated along with them.

posted by carrieworm to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

Almost sounds like the movie The Fountain, but not sure if that's based on a book. From the plot of the movie doesn't sound like it.

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posted by cjorgensen at 11:29 AM on October 30, 2008

Best answer: To Sleep No More, perhaps?
posted by JaredSeth at 11:45 AM on October 30, 2008

I'm pretty sure it's not the exact book you're looking for, but a similar plot set in the modern day was Ken Grimwood's Replay from 1987.
posted by mrbill at 12:55 PM on October 30, 2008

Sounds kinda like Katherine Kerr's Deverry Cycle series. The main character swears an oath to "set things right" regarding his one true love, who gets reincarnated again and again, or something like that. Set in some mythical Celtic world, with language based on celtic/gaelic/welsh.
posted by robotot at 3:24 PM on October 30, 2008

Response by poster: To Sleep No More... that's it! As soon as I saw the title I remember (after ten years of trying to remember on my own). Thank you so much. :)
posted by carrieworm at 7:10 PM on October 30, 2008

carrieworm, I can't even claim to have read it. I googled reincarnation benjamin carpenter witch lovers and it was the third hit. It does sound interesting though...was it any good?
posted by JaredSeth at 7:58 PM on October 30, 2008

Response by poster: Let me reread it... I've ordered it and it should be here soon. I remember it being really good, but I may have built it up a bit in my mind (plus I was quite a bit younger in the eighties!). It has also stayed with me because I had lent it to my best friend right before she died... it was the last book she read.
I can't believe you just googled it and found it... I swear I used all those words in google--except lovers and obviously not in the right order :)
Thank you very much.
posted by carrieworm at 6:34 PM on November 5, 2008