You don’t get more
proper than Elizabeth Rae Perry. She was born in the late 1800s and
lived through three major wars—the Anglo Boer War, as well as World
Wars I and II. Life for a woman in the Union of South Africa was very
different for those who were lucky enough to live later. Back then
there were very few job options available for a woman, and you were
either a housewife, a teacher, a secretary or a nurse.
Elizabeth or Lizzie, as
she prefers to be known, went on to marry a man her parents thought
was a good match. Richard Perry was a successful businessman involved
in the railways. Little did they know that he was also a member of a
highly secretive ancient Egyptian reincarnation cult, the Inkarna,
and Lizzie was to be his next initiate.
And that’s also the
point at which her life became a lot more interesting, as she soon
found herself the soul custodian of House Adamastor’s Cape
Town-based chapter house.
Richard assured her that
death was not the end, and that through a series of rituals she’d
be able to survive after death, and find her way to House Adamastor’s
mystical “house of life” Per Ankh in the Tuat (or afterlife). Of
course she had no way to prove his words, but being the ever-dutiful
wife, continued to maintain his legacy after his passing.
By the time she popped off
this mortal coil in 1966, the old lady could pack quite a punch, and
was in possession of a formidable arsenal of daemonic powers, which
included telekinesis and psychometry. On top of that, she was also
hyper aware of the spirit world. While her body aged normally, as all
humans do, she was equipped with power and wisdom beyond that of a
normal person. A decent trade-off, if you ask me.
She trained up her own
initiate to take her place once she died, before making her own
journey through the Black Gate.
The scope of my
novel, Inkarna,
is such that I couldn’t cover all that transpired while Lizzie
dwelled in the Tuat, but I can share this much that the Inkarna use
this space to meditate and regroup. They are able to access the
memories of the “Blessed Dead”—regular humans who have died—as
they move toward the primordial chaos that is the Sea of Nun, and
thereby keep in touch with changes that have occurred in the land of
the living.
Surprisingly, Lizzie finds
that she does have the next opportunity to return to the world of
matter when her House needs to send someone new. But complications
arise when she wakes in the body of a 21-year-old male instead of the
three-year-old girl she was promised. To make matters even more
uncomfortable, Lizzie has to pick up the pieces of the previous
host’s life—and Ashton Kennedy really did make a hash of things.
Why did I do this to my
main character? I asked myself, what is the worst possible thing I
could do to a prim and proper lady? It doesn’t get much worse than
sticking her consciousness inside the body of a virile male with long
hair, who’s covered in tattoos and used to be a barman. It’s how
she deals with her predicament that provided me with the most
entertainment while writing. The contrast between the man everyone
else thinks they know and the person Lizzie has become, is quite
delicious, and results in quite a few unintentionally humorous
situations.
At the end of the
day, Inkarna
explores the theme of love that transcends the boundaries imposed by
gender, time and death. It’s a story about doing what is right,
even though one’s actions might be considered morally
reprehensible. It’s a tale of magic, myth and adventure, set
against a backdrop of eternal conflict.
Buy Inkarna
