"THE GREENER SHORE," by Morgan Llywelyn, Ballantine, 301 pages, $24.95.

Get lost in a world of magic while learning about Ireland's rich heritage in Morgan Llywelyn's novel "The Greener Shore."

After the Romans destroy their native land, a small group led by the druid Ainvar leaves Gaul as exiles to settle as far from Caesar's reach as they can. They end up in ancient Ireland, which the Romans call Hibernia.

Ainvar, formerly chief druid of his tribe, is heartbroken when he learns his magic has left him. His senior wife, Briga, who hates druid magic on principle, has surprisingly inherited the gifts her husband lost. As the clan tries to fit in with Ireland's Celtic tribes, Ainvar learns his magic is still there, only a bit different, and he also discovers the druid gifts in the children around him.

Llywelyn's prose opens up a fantasy of spells, fortune-telling, healing and poetry that defines Celtic culture. She lays out Ireland's tribal beginnings in a remarkable way, so despite the imaginative tone of her story, the setting seems real.

The main character, Ainvar, is a man broken by failure and loss who somehow overcomes his past and finds peace. His emotional journey pulls the reader into the story even more than the incredible events that make up his daily life.

But those impossibilities that make up a druid's routine are a story all on their own. How, for example, does Briga manage to walk on dry sand deep into the ocean? Or how does Ainvar's daughter Gobnat stick her bare hands into hives of angry bees and never get stung?

There is a pattern in everything, the druids believe, and finding the pattern brings meaning to life. Ainvar thinks he understands his pattern, but only after many years does he learn his true destiny.

Be prepared for the fanciful, the unexpected and even the impossible in this book. A healthy imagination is a must for enjoying Llywelyn's story; the pragmatist will likely end up bored after a few chapters.

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E-mail: jcloward@desnews.com