Magical, tantalizing, and sensual, "The Mistress of Spices" is the story of
Tilo, a young woman born in another time, in a faraway place, who is trained in
the ancient art of spices and ordained as a mistress charged with special
powers. Once fully initiated in a rite of fire, the now immortal Tilo--in the
gnarled and arthritic body of an old woman--travels through time to Oakland,
California, where she opens a shop from which she administers spices as
curatives to her customers. An unexpected romance with a handsome stranger
eventually forces her to choose between the supernatural life of an immortal and
the vicissitudes of modern