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Although Angela Renatus claims she does not believe in fate, she finds herself swept off her feet by the irresistible attraction she feels for Alex Caine, a man she barely knows.

Is Angela’s connection with her past selves a gift or a curse?
Do you think her visions of Fioretta and Sophia are credibly portrayed in the novel?

She gets in to a hell of trouble due the past life regression. If not for her visions, her life would have been smooth and uneventful. Unless she thinks all the trouble is a gift, I feel it as a curse for her

Sushan wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 22:43 She gets in to a hell of trouble due the past life regression. If not for her visions, her life would have been smooth and uneventful. Unless she thinks all the trouble is a gift, I feel it as a curse for her

Yes, but she also meets the love of her life due to her visions. More than that, she realizes she can change her fate and she actually does it in the end. Besides, wouldn't you like to know who you were in your past lives?

cristinaro wrote: ↑03 Jun 2018, 00:20

Sushan wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 22:43 She gets in to a hell of trouble due the past life regression. If not for her visions, her life would have been smooth and uneventful. Unless she thinks all the trouble is a gift, I feel it as a curse for her

Yes, but she also meets the love of her life due to her visions. More than that, she realizes she can change her fate and she actually does it in the end. Besides, wouldn't you like to know who you were in your past lives?

Yeah, it might be interesting just to know it. But if it troubles the serenity of my current life, then I would not think of it as a blessing

Sushan wrote: ↑03 Jun 2018, 11:02

cristinaro wrote: ↑03 Jun 2018, 00:20

Sushan wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 22:43 She gets in to a hell of trouble due the past life regression. If not for her visions, her life would have been smooth and uneventful. Unless she thinks all the trouble is a gift, I feel it as a curse for her

Yes, but she also meets the love of her life due to her visions. More than that, she realizes she can change her fate and she actually does it in the end. Besides, wouldn't you like to know who you were in your past lives?

Yeah, it might be interesting just to know it. But if it troubles the serenity of my current life, then I would not think of it as a blessing

I guess you are closer to Angela than me. She also considers it a curse throughout most part of the novel. As far as I am concerned, I'd love to know who I was in my past lives at least for one simple reason. I'd thus know I'd still have the chance to live a future life.

I think Angela's connection to her past lives was a curse throughout the novel. It put her in danger and constantly interrupted her life. In the beginning of the story, she would often have blackouts at her job. She also had blackouts when she and Alex were in Italy. Sure, the visions helped Angela solve the mystery of the painting, but I think they were more problematic than beneficial.

cristinaro wrote: ↑01 Jun 2018, 23:21 Although Angela Renatus claims she does not believe in fate, she finds herself swept off her feet by the irresistible attraction she feels for Alex Caine, a man she barely knows.

Is Angela’s connection with her past selves a gift or a curse?
Do you think her visions of Fioretta and Sophia are credibly portrayed in the novel?

I think her connection is a curse. She has an irresistible attraction for Alex, to the extent she kisses him and converses without knowledge. That by itself is the stuff of nightmares. As the story progresses, she turns from a highly educated, strong woman into a weepy ghost of her former self. By the end of the story, Angela is hardly recognizable anymore.

I do not think either Fioretta or Sophia are portrayed credibly. Neither woman fit what would have been demanded of women in those time periods, but this novel was never meant to be strictly realistic. I have never met an old Italian man who would allow a female family member to go off by herself to a city, especially during war. Sophia's brothers would never have allowed her to stay in Florence during the war.

Assuming past selves are true, ignorance is the only thing that would save us from their faults. Angela may have found a painting, but she also agitated and upset an old woman to do so. Angela is even groped by the ghost of her past self's lover. Her knowledge of the past seems to bring no peace, despite the author insisting at the end that this is a gift, not a curse.

cristinaro wrote: ↑03 Jun 2018, 00:20

Sushan wrote: ↑02 Jun 2018, 22:43 She gets in to a hell of trouble due the past life regression. If not for her visions, her life would have been smooth and uneventful. Unless she thinks all the trouble is a gift, I feel it as a curse for her

Yes, but she also meets the love of her life due to her visions. More than that, she realizes she can change her fate and she actually does it in the end. Besides, wouldn't you like to know who you were in your past lives?

If Angela's story is an example of how past life regression will play out for us all, I think this curse is something most people can live without. I agree with Sushan that her life would have been less eventful and that this is a curse. She was attracted to Alex at the bar before she knew about her past life, and may have come to know him without the supernatural element.

I think it depends on how you look at it. Some may think that a simple, uneventful life is a curse because they do not life boredom. They may instead view everything that happened to Angela as an adventure. Others may prefer a quiet, uneventful life. It's more about perspective than anything else.

It's hard to tell whether this would be a gift or a curse; I guess it would depend on how she feels about. I think it could help her to grow as a person in her current time though.

just from everyones comments there really doesn't seem to be much of an upside to the connection.

I think it is both. Everything has its pros and cons anyway. But with Angela's, i think it is a little tipped over to the cursed one.

I think her visions from her past is a curse. It makes her go through so much trouble even though they help in solving the puzzle about the missing painting.

Angela's connection is a curse because of the burden it places on her in her relationship with others. It also traumatizing being molested by a former lover's ghost. Her infatuation with Alex could only further confirm her confused state of mind.

I think Angela's past life regression is distinctly a curse! The experiences are traumatizing at times, confusing, and has changed who she is as a person. Even though she meets Alex, I feel like the bad outweigh the good.