Born with Wings: The Immortal Life of Piu Piu by Bianca Gubalke is aptly named because the protagonist of this story is desperately trying to break free and she will do anything to become the person she wants to be. The novel opens with a powerful bang. Anata is on the path to discovering her spirituality and growing. For that, she confers with her spiritual guide and they discuss what her next earthly life should be and what she should expect from it. It is decided that in her next life she will have the right to make her life own decisions, but she will not remember who she really is.

Her next life begins when a South African girl called Pippa discovers an Egyptian gosling while she is out and about with her pet cat. Pippa names the gosling Piu Piu and together Pippa and Piu Piu learn many things about life, spirituality, decisions and what it truly means to be alive. Soon Piu Piu’s life is threatened by an enemy and Pippa and Piu Piu have to do something before it is too late. Who is Anata in her new life? Is she Pippa or is she Piu Piu? What is she supposed to do in this new life and what is the lesson that she is learning?

This novel has made my inner literature student very happy. Deep and intelligent, the subject matter is handled wonderfully. There are themes of mysticism and spirituality that the reader will discover and understand with Pippa and Piu Piu. They are a formidable team and they fight against the odds together. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and the cover is too stunning to ignore. Enigmatic and entertaining.

Born with Wings: The Immortal Life of Piu Piu by Bianca Gubalke is a fiction novel which explores metaphysics and philosophical concepts. Born with Wings begins with the story of Anata and her present and future beginnings on Earth. The story then moves to Pippa and her experiences living in South Africa, surrounded by the landscape and all of its creatures. Bianca discusses various philosophical ideas throughout this book in the form of the experiences of the people in it as well as their interaction with beings around them, including the animal kingdom. Thus, we learn about Pippa’s close connection with animals, and through her, we meet Piu Piu, a young gosling. In this way, the book discloses its plot and secrets not only through humans, but also through animals who feel, think, and experience life just like we do.

I liked the basic idea of writing a novel like this that is essentially a discourse about ultimate reality, and the mysteries of life, death, and reincarnation in a form that reads like a fable or a fairy tale. I also liked that this book contains several types of creatures, including animals and birds, and that each presents their own perspective of the world to the reader and it is left up to the reader to understand the underlying meaning and unity beneath it all. In this way, the book touches upon aspects of psychology, spirituality, metaphysics, and of course philosophy. The writing is engaging, although the plot could have been tightened up a bit instead of flowing more or less loosely. Still, this is an interesting read for anyone who enjoys metaphysical discussions.