Plot

Lady of Avalon is the sequel to The Forest House

The Forest House

This is about the novel, for Forrest House, see Melbourne High SchoolThe Forest House is a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson, though the latter is uncredited by the publisher...

and the prequel to The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...

. It is divided into 3 parts.

Part 1

The first part shows us Caillean and Gawen (Eilan's son), who we know from the prequel, The Forest House

The Forest House

This is about the novel, for Forrest House, see Melbourne High SchoolThe Forest House is a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson, though the latter is uncredited by the publisher...

.
Caillean assumes the role of High Priestess of Avalon and somewhat a foster mother to Gawen. Gawen is raised as a druid, but from time to time, the Fairy Queen takes him with her to teach him. She also has a daughter, Sianna. The Fairy Queen and Caillean agree that Sianna will be given the teachings of the priestesses of Avalon. Spending their childhood together, Sianna and Gawen have a special bond. By the end of this first part of the book, Gawen and Sianna have become more than just friends. Sianna will bear Gawen's child, though Gawen himself will not live to see his daughter, as he is killed when he tries to protect Avalon from the Christians and a Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 patrol. After these unfortunate events, Caillean calls upon the mists so that Avalon will be inaccessible to anyone who cannot handle the magic to lift the mist.
When Caillean grows too old, Sianna assumes the position of High Priestess and her daughter after her, thus starting a lineage of High Priestesses.

Part 2

The second part tells us about High Priestess Dierna. She takes in a new novice of royal blood, named Teleri. When she gets a vision about the new Protector of Britannia

Britannia

Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...

, a Roman admiral named Carausius, she forces Teleri, a foreign princess who hoped to become a great priestess, to be wed to the man to keep Dierna in power. Some years later, Carausius gets more and more opposition from all sides. Teleri will flee from her husband and give support to one of his former trustees to become the new High King. Eventually, Dierna and Carausius will find each other and betray Teleri. The High King hunts down Carausius who tries to reach the safety of Avalon and Dierna, but fails to reach it, dying of his wounds at the edge of the lake of Avalon. Some time later, Teleri falls back into the abusive relationship and finds her way back to Avalon, where she is reunited with Dierna and becomes her successor.

Part 3

The third part focuses on Avalon High Priestess Ana and her third daughter, Viviane. Viviane was fostered on a farm, but when she is 14 her mother sends Taliesin the Druid bard to escort her to Avalon. There she completes her training as a priestess, but Ana won't let her go through her initiation, so Viviane continues to remain a novice. This allows her to be the first maiden in centuries to be able to handle the Holy Grail, which is kept by Taliesin's order of Druids. Viviane's temperament takes after Ana's, so their characters often clash. Finally, Viviane is initiated when she becomes Vortimer's lover but returns to Avalon when he dies, where she bears his daughter. Sadly, her child dies three months later. Ana is also pregnant, but birth proves to be difficult at her age. At last Ana and Viviane find forgiveness for each other, but Ana does not survive the birth of her last daughter, Morgause

Morgause

Morgause , known in earlier works as Gwyar or Anna, is the sister or half-sister of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon and Igraine; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei...

. Luckily, Viviane can nurse Ana's daughter, since her body is still accustomed to breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...

 her own child.

This last part leads us to the storyline of The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...

.

Release details

• 1997, USA, Penguin Putnam Inc. ISBN 0-451-45652-1, Pub date June 1998, Paperback