This is a Feminist-Jungian interpretation of the ancient Sumerian Inanna Myth. She explores the characters of Inanna and Ereshkigal and the nature of Inanna's descent, death and resurrection clearly and powerfully. She sees Inanna as representing "daughters fo the patriarchy" - outwardly successful women who have taken on patriarchal values, and Ereshkigal as the "deep feminine" - the feminine side that we as individuals and as a society have rejected and pushed into the shadow. The descent of Inanna to the underworld is then the journey to die to the old life and reconnect to the deep feminine.
For me this book gave meaning and structure to my own "descent to the underworld". Much of the book resonated deeply with my experience. Perera writes powerfully and with authority, and draws from a wide range of sources.
I liked the fact that this is a specifically feminine interpretation of descent and transformation, and it complements the many books and accounts of the descent to the psychic underworld that are not feminine or that are consciously or unconsciously masculine.
Although it is slim, this is a meaty book. If you have come across the Inanna myth in other books (eg Maureen Murdoch's "the Heroine's Journey") and want to know more, or if you are a successful woman who seems to be being sucked into your own "underworld" and want to understand it better, I recommend this highly.
