Discovering Tarot in Literature:
...
The List
Compiled by Nina Lee Braden
(abridged from Nina Lee Braden's copyrighted list from 2002, the year in which the issue of this Newsletter appeared - the
full and most recent updated list may
be viewed online here)
Since I like to read fiction, and since I like Tarot,
I like to read fiction which has Tarot in it. Tarot is
such a wonderful system of ymbols, that I find it a natural
for writers. Increasingly, more and more writers seem to
be using Tarot in their works. Some of them have obviously
done their homework and are familiar with the Tarot. Others
use it for effect without any knowledge.
Check out the following books which use Tarot. Some of
them are quite good; others are not. In addition, I have
a list of books which do not have Tarot, but which, in
my not so humble opinion, "shoulda had" Tarot. Most of
these books are what I would call metaphysical fiction.
Personal note: some of the books on this list are truly
amazing, wonderful, tremendous and powerful works of literature.
Others are fun reads, good light entertainment. A few are
just plain bad. Inclusion on this list is no assurance
of literary merit nor of any accuracy in the history or
use of Tarot, only of using the Tarot as a literary device.
[É] Unfortunately, a great number of these books are out
of print.
If you know of a book which mentions Tarot but which is
not mentioned on this list, please email me, so that I
can revise my list. I wish to thank all of those who have
helped me with this list over the years. I have been working
on this list since about 1991. It has been a labor of love.
In particular, I wish to thank Diane Wilkes for several
contributions to the list. If you would like to read about
how I got started with compiling this list, please read
Discovering Tarot in Literature: The Journey, Part I .
→ indicates a book which I consider of great literary
merit or my personal favorites [please note that Nina distinguishes
these on her site].
The List
Adams, Deborah
All the Dark Disguises (I really love
Adams' books)
Adams, Richard
→ The Tyger Voyage (Juvenile)
Albert, Susan
Wittig Witches' Bane
Allende, Isabel
→ The House of Spirits (Movie
adaptation may use non-Tarot divination cards)
Anthony, Piers
Chaining the Lady
→ Cluster
Kirlian Quest
→ Tarot (Originally in 3 separate
volumes--excellent, excellent, excellent)
Thousandstar
Viscious Circle
Ashe, Geoffrey The Finger and the Moon
Atwood, Margaret
→ The Robber Bride
Baxter, Charles
"Kiss Away." Believers
Barnes, Linda.
"Lucky Penny" in Sisters in Crime edited
by Marilyn Wallace
Bayley, Barrington J.
The Grand Wheel
Bischoff, David
The Destiny Dice
Block, Francesca Lia
The Hanged Man (Young adult. Many
people really like this book, but it left me flat.)
Bradley, Marion Zimmer
Heartlight (Several mere mentions,
lots of ceremonial magick)
The Inheritor (Mere mention)
Witchlight (Fleeting)
Breton, Andre
→ Arcanum XVII
Bronwyn, Lundell
Another Poet Among Us "Missing Ingredient."
Brown, Mary
Dancing the Jack (Fleeting)
Brust, Steven, and Megan Lindholm
Gypsy (Dark, futuristic science fiction)
Byers, Richard Lee
Dark Fortune (Horror)
Bull, Emma
Bone Dance (Science Fiction)
Calvino, Italo
→ The Castle of Crossed Destinies (Highly
regarded by many, but I wasn't particularly impressed)
Camp, John See John Sandford.
Card, Orson Scott
"The Changed Man and the King of Words" in The
Changed Man. Originally published in Omni,
December, 1981.
Carr, John Dickson
The Eight of Swords
Casteneda, Carlos
Several
Cate, Nathan
Sanctuary of the Gods
Chopra, Deepak
The Return of Merlin (Too bad that
it's the bad guy who uses Tarot)
Chopra, Gautama
Child of the Dawn
Civil-Brown, Sue
Chasing Rainbow (Heroine a psychic)
Clarke, Lindsay
→ The Chymical Wedding 1989 (Much
alchemy. Stunningly written. Highly recommended)
Cook, Thomas
Night Secrets (Brief)
Cooper, Louise
The Book of Paradox (One of the first
books that I read which featured Tarot)
Cornwell, Patricia D
All That Remains
Coville, Bruce
Eyes of the Tarot (Juvenile. Very
well done, as is all of his work)
Creeley, Robert.
Pieces (Poetry. Quotes Waite on the
Fool. Also mentions astrology and playing cards)
Crichton, Michael
→ Travels (See related article:
'Michael Crichton a New Ager?')
Crowell, Jean
→ Necessary Madness (fleeting)
Crowley, Aleister
→ Moonchild
Cunningham, Elizabeth
Return of the Goddess: A Divine Comedy
Davies, Robertson
The Rebel Angels
The Lyre of Orpheus
Davis, Dorothy Salisbury
A Death in the Life
Deaver, Jeffrey
The Devil's Teardrop (Mere mention
and negative at that)
Deitz, Tom
Dreambuilder (Deitz has a wonderful
musical Tarot which he features in three of his books)
The Gryphon King
Soulsmith
Windmaster's Bane (Mere mention)
→ Wordwright
Delany, Samuel
Nova
Triton
De Lint, Charles
The Dreaming Place (Young adult)
Moonheart
Moonlight and Vines (three short stories
previously published elsewhere)
Trader (Mere mention, but lots of
great stuff on divination)
Devlin, Mary
Murder on the Canterbury Pilgrimage
Dillard, J.M.
→ The Lost Years (Star Trek and
Tarot!)
di Prima, Diane
→ poem in Mary Greer's Tarot for Your
Self
Dunstan, Stephen
Tarot Poems
Eco, Umberto
→ Foucault's Pendulum (Fleeting)
Edghill, Rosemary
Book of Moons (Brief, but lots of
Wicca)
Bowl of Night
Met by Moonlight (Mere mention, lots
of Wicca)
Speak Daggers to Her (Modest Tarot,
lots of Wicca, Tarot on cover)
Egan, Doris
The Gate of Ivory (Brief Tarot, significant
non-Tarot divination cards)
Eisner, William
The Sevigne Letters
Elder, Catherine
The Sword and the Rose
Eliot, T.S.
→ The Waste Land
Ellin, Stanley
House of Cards (Brief. See also the
movie)
Emerson, Ru
Princess of Flames
Farina, Richard
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me
Fennelly, Tony
Closet Hanging
The Glory Hole Murders
1-900-DEAD (Lots on astrology)
Finch, Sheila
Infinity's Web
Fitch, Janet
→ White Oleander (Really lovely
book with a few fleeting Tarot references)
Fortune, Dion
→ The Sea Priestess (Much ceremonial
magic, brief Tarot scene)
Fowles, John
→ The Magus
Foyrer, Gayle
Prince of Cups (Romance)
Gates, Charlene Elizabeth
The Tarot Trumps: Their Origin, Archetypal
Imagery, and Use and Some Works of English Literature (doctoral
dissertation)
Geary, Patricia
Strange Toys (indirect & cover)
Gentle, Mary
Rats and Gargoyles (Brief, but strong
alchemy)
George, Demetra
Mysteries of the Dark Moon
George, Elizabeth
→ Deception on His Mind (Mere
mention)
→ Missing Joseph (Passing, but
fair amount of Wicca)
Gilman, Dorothy
The Clairvoyant Countess (Cover, mere
mention, strong clairvoyance)
Goldstein, Lisa
Travelers in Magic (Photos, also Mexican
Lotto Cards)
Gotlieb, Phyllis
Emperor, Swords, Pentacles
Goudge, Elizabeth
The White Witch (Historically questionable)
Grafton, Sue
"O" is for Outlaw
Grahn, Judy
→ The Queen of Swords (Verse
play, indirect)
→ The Queen of Wands (Poetry,
indirect)
Green, Kate
Black Dreams
→ Shattered Moon
Greenberg, Martin H. & Lawrence Schimel, eds.
The Fortune Teller (One Tarot story)
Tarot Fantastic (16 stories and poems
by a variety of authors)
Gresham, William Lindsay
→ Nightmare Alley
Guthrie, Al
Murder by Tarot
Hager, Jean
Blooming Murder
Hahn, Mary
Downing The Time of the Witch (Juvenile)
Hambly, Barbara
Dog Wizard
Stranger at the Wedding
Harrington, R.E.
7 of Swords
Harris, Joanne
Chocolat (a marvelous book in many
ways)
Heinlein, Robert
Stranger in a Strange Land
Herbert, Frank
Children of Dune (Mere mention)
Dune Messiah (Not sure if it qualifies
for "real" Tarot)
Hetmann, Frederik
Madru
Higgins, Jack
The Eagle Has Landed (Brief but noteworthy)
Highwater, Jamake
The Language of Vision
Hoffman, Alice
→ Practical Magic
Hulme, Keri
→ The Bone People (Brief specific
Tarot scene, but strong use of basic Tarot archetypes)
Hyvard, Jeanne
Waterweed in the Wash House
Jackson, Shirley
→ Hangsaman
Jarvis, Kel
Lady Tarot (Verse play)
Keene, Carolyn
The Fortune Teller's Secret Nancy
Drew.
Hits and Misses (Nancy Drew and
Hardy Boys) (brief)
Kellerman, Faye
→ Grievous Sin (Mere mention)
King, Laurie R.
→ The Beekeeper's Apprentice
→ A Darker Place (Mere mention
of Tarot but much alchemy)
King, Stephen
The Eyes of the Dragon (Mere mention)
The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I (Deck
used has some non-standard additions)
Kopp, Sheldon.
→ The Hanged Man: Psychotherapy and
the Forces of Darkness (Memoirs and musings of a psychotherapist,
using eleven Tarot cards as the organization)
Kotzwinkle, William
Fata Morgana
Queen of Swords (Indirect)
Kurtz, Katherine
→ Lammas Night
Laubenthal, Sanders
Anne Excalibur
Lee, Tanith
A Heroine of the World
Lem, Carol
The Hermit's Journey: Tarot Poems for Meditation
London, Cait
The Daddy Candidate (Romance)
Lorens, M. K.
Sorrowheart (Mystery)
Magarshack, David
Death Cuts a Caper
Makino, Erika B.
Six of Cups: A Circle of Stones (Short
stories)
Meade, Marion
Sybille (Short but noteworthy. Historically
questionable)
McCarthy, Cormac
→ Blood Meridian
MacGregor, T.J.
→ The Hanged Man
McKillip, Patricia A.
Fool's Run (Indirect)
McMillan, Terry
A Day Late & a Dollar Short
Mathewson, Joseph
Alicia's Trump
Matteson, Stefanie
Murder on the Silk Road
Melville, Jennie
Tarot's Tower
Meyer, Julie
In the Cards (Romance)
Meyers, Annette
Tender Death
Morris, Winifred
With Magical Horses to Ride (Juvenile)
Muller, Marcia
Ask the Cards a Question (Mere mention)
Murphey, Warren & R. Sapir
The Ghost in the Machine (Destroyer series
#90)
Nolen, Han
Dancing on the Edge (Mere mention,
but lots of metaphysics)
Norman, Marsha
→ The Fortune Teller (Signi-ficant.
Nicely done)
O'Har, George M.
Psychic Fair (Fleeting Tarot but much
Ouija Board)
Park, Jacqueline
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi (Short
but significant, historically questionable)
Pavic, Milorad
Last Love in Constantinople: A Tarot Novel
for Divination (Popular, but I didn't like it)
Piercy, Marge
→ "Laying Down the Tower" cluster in To
Be of Use (Truly awesome)
→ Small Change (Brief)
Plath, Sylvia
→ Ariel (Assorted poems)
Pollack, Rachel
→ Golden Vanity (Slight, indirect)
Pollack, R. & C. Matthews, ed.
Tarot Tales
Powers, Tim
Expiration Date (bare mention)
→ Last Call (Significant and
excellent)
Pratchett, Terry
Light Fantastic (Discworld series, "Caroc" cards)
Lords and Ladies (Discworld series, "Caroc" cards)
Mort (Discworld series, "Caroc" cards)
Pynchon, Thomas
→ Gravity's Rainbow (Known Tarot,
just not known how extensive)
Rafferty, Carin
Touch of Magic (Romance)
The Lake of Darkness
Rich, Adrienne
→ "Twenty-One Love Poems" (Indirect)
Riley, Judith Merkle
The Master of All Desires (historically
inaccurate, but a fun tale of intrigue during the time of
Nostradamus and the Medicis)
Ritkin, Virginia
Fate of the Silver Moon (Audio book)
Robbins, Tom
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
Robertson, Garcia y.
"Gypsy Trade"
Rose, Carol Jean
Step-Mother
The Tarot Gypsy Trips
Rowling, J. K.
→ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Delightful
book of interest to those of metaphysical bent. Tarot only
a fleeting mention, however)
Sandford, John
The Empress File (Formerly published
under John Camp)
The Fool's Run (Formerly published
under John Camp)
Mind Prey (Mere mention)
Silent Prey (Brief but significant)
Satterhwait, Walter
The Hanged Man
Savic, Sally
Elysian Fields (Bare mention)
Sellers, M. R.
Harm None: A Rowan Gant Investigation
Sherrell, Carl
Arcane
Shields, Jody
The Fig Eater
Shitcher, Susan
The Fool Reversed (Young adult)
Simmons, Robert
Earthfire
Simon, Jean
Wild Card
Slade, Michael
Ripper (Horror. Very graphically violent.
Strong use of Tarot)
Smith, Julie
The Axeman's Jazz (Very brief)
Other People's Skeletons (Short but
significant, much New Age)
Spillard, Anne
The Cartomancer (Divination with playing
cards)
Stansberger, Richard
"Arcana: Poems from the Tarot" Glass Hat:
Poems 1979
Stein, Diane
"Queen of Hearts" in Lady Sun & Lady Moon
Steinbeck, J.
→ The Winter of Our Discontent
Stockenberg, Antoinette
Beloved
Stone, Irving
The Agony and the Ecstasy (Fictional
life of Michaelangelo with references to game of Tarrochi)
Stuart, Anne
Prince of Swords (Romance)
Sullivan, Evelin
Four of Fools (Significant)
Sussex, L.
'The Man Hanged Upside Down'
Tannen, Mary
Second Sight
Taylor, Laurie Aylma
"Fortune Tellers." Poem in Xanadu 3
ed. Jane Yolen
Taylor, Peter
Oracle at Stoneleigh Court (Brief)
Thurm, Marian
The Clairvoyant (Minor but significant.
Somewhat accurate portrayal of professional psychic)
Tryon, Tom
Night Magic
Wakoski, Diane
→ Assorted poems including "From the Tarot
Deck"
Warner, Mignon
Death in Time (Mere mention)
The Girl Who Was Clairvoyant
A Medium for Murder (Brief)
→ The Tarot Murders
Webb, Don
Essential Saltes (Mere mention but
lots of alchemy)
Weick, Stewart
Mage
Whitten, Leslie H
The Alchemist
Wilhelm, Kate
The Hamlet Trap
Seven Kinds of Death
Willard, Nancy
"The Friendship Tarot" in Between Friends,
ed. Mickey Pearlman (title, actual cards not Tarot, picture
of Tree of Life layout)
Williams, Charles
→ The Greater Trumps (significant,
classic work)
Williams, Tad
Otherworld (indirect, Hanged Man archetype)
Wilson, F. Paul
The Keep
Wilson, Robert Anton
The Cosmic Trigger, Vol. I. (non-fiction)
Wilson, Robert Anton
The Earth Will Shake (The Historical
Illuminatus trilogy)
→ Masks of the Illuminati
The Trick Top Hat (Schrodinger's
Cat trilogy)
The Universe Next Door (Schrodinger's
Cat trilogy)
The Widow's Son (mere mention)
Wilson, Robert Anton and Robert Shea The Eye in the
Pyramid (Illuminatus! trilogy)
The Golden Apple (Illuminatus! trilogy,
mere mention)
Leviathan (Illuminatus! trilogy)
Winterson, Jeanette
→ Gut Symmetries
Worth, Valerie
Gypsy Gold (Young adult, no historical
accuracy at all)
Yate, Allan Coriolanus
The Chariot
Yeager, Dorian
Cancellation by Death.
Eviction by Death (Brief)
Yeats, William Butler
→ "Stories of Red Hanrahan," "Blood and
the Moon," others.
Yorke, Christy
The Wishing Garden (One of the most
extensive uses of Tarot that I've run across)
Zelazny, Roger
Amber series
[thank you Nina Lee Braden for this list - please check
for updates since this Newsletter online
at her site.]
|
