Ekstasis - The Return of the Sovereign Heart - Overview

Ekstasis - The Return of the Sovereign Heart by M.I. Dugast offers an unusual blend of romance and enlightenment. This is Dugast's first book in her Ekstasis magical realism romance series. I had to look up the word Ekstasis to try to get a better idea of what the title is intended to convey. This is what I found for a definition of Ekstasis: 
The throwing of the mind out of its normal state, alienation of mind, whether such as makes a lunatic or that of a man who by some sudden emotion is transported as it were out of himself, so that in this rapt condition, although he is awake, his mind is drawn off from all surrounding objects and wholly fixed on things divine that he sees nothing but the forms and images lying within, and thinks that he perceives with his bodily eyes and ears realities shown him by God.

Dugast allows the interplay of narrative and spirituality to run wild through the fields of her imagination resulting in an impactful and timeless story with the allure of magic shrouded with reality and love. 

While Dugast's novel is certainly deeply layered with spiritual ruminations, she doesn't skimp on rich narrative, clever dialogue, delivered at a steady pace with a smattering of soft eroticism sprinkled throughout the pages. 

It is a humongous and challenging tale that delves into life's mysteries in many ways. The first book of this series is physically huge, covering a breadth of diverse characters. We have the atheist David who has lost his belief in God and with good reasons. However, David's view and feelings towards life are radically changed when he reads a book by Mona Devek.  Devek’s book is a heartfelt tale influenced by her strange beliefs that she is a descendant of people from another world.   One character in Dugast's novel described Devak's work as a fictionalized journal that describes facing odds that should have terminated the protagonist. 

One of the characters I loved best was a mysterious dog who first was simply a spirit of a sort and then metamorphosed into physical form. Mona's dog, named Achak, could talk with her and was willing to draw into its own being the pain Mona felt when she was stricken with cancer. All the animals in the novel are unique, but Achak was the most interesting.

The spiritual experiences the book relates are from many cultures and beliefs. You learn about Ho' oponopono, an ancient Hawaiian spiritual practice that allows the character Kassandra to silence the demons inside of her that were interfering in the writing of her book. It cleansed her mind of negatives and let her move forward toward the completion of her novel.

The entire body of work is powerful and full of fantastical spiritual allegories. Spiritual, morally and emotionally complex 'novels' are exceptionally rare, but Ekstasis: The Return of the Sovereign Heart is just such one. If the thematic blend of love, reality, and spiritualism piques your interest, you will most likely love this massive work by Dugast.

This is a book to let your imagination bloom, to be patient and savor the words, set aside time for full attention, and let yourself be overtaken by what seemed just a breath beyond the veil between the spiritual and the physical reality.