The Love Seeker Series

Barbara Ann Quinlan was born in the sheltered world of upstate New York in the 1950s. When the family moved to California, she easily slipped into the embodiment of a 1960’s wild child. Yet far from a typical story of sex, drugs and rock and roll, she was to travel extensively in Europe and Israel, study under the innovative and influential theatre director, Jerzy Grotowski, have affairs with high-profile actors, and an icon of Israeli music before his tragic demise.

Hers is a story of triumphs and tragedies, mountain-top joy and deepest pits of misery, outlandish behaviors, destructive compulsions, foolishness and ultimately, miracles. Urging her through it all was the relentless pursuit of what she was hungrily seeking; love, peace, and her place in the world.

Autobiography | Paperback – 978-0645062984 – 978-0648949763 – 978-0648949787

The Love Seeker Series – Book 1 – Found

On the search for perfect love, unencumbered, a young woman sets out to attend the most revolutionary theater in the world, the Theater Laboratory in Wroclaw, Poland; under the direction of Jerzy Grotowski, where she hopes to discover the essence of herself and is willing to surrender everything in pursuit of it.

Arriving first in Paris, she finds a sweet lover and reminisces over the history that brought her to him. But nothing, not even the past, can hold her down, nor stop her. She travels on to the Theater where after many prayers and much determination she discovers, on that theater floor, the ocean of light and energy, or as Hindus call it, Prana.

Then having traveled beyond the horizon of her dreams, discovering the magnificent power and beauty of love that lives on the energy of life itself, a new problem arises. How to return to that state of grace? How to find her way back to the sea of love where she might dance on the crest if it’s waves for the rest of her life. She works to the point of exhaustion attempting to return with no result. Back in the United States she meets a young man, who had also studied with Grotowski. He brings her news of another teacher, that might be able to help her saying, “ If you think Grotowski is so great you should come meet my teacher because he makes Grotowski look like an ant!”

With a great deal of skepticism, though not wanting to leave any stone unturned, she goes to the Teacher and asks for the keys to unlock her path back to the sea. Miraculously the door opens onto the answer of her lifelong quest… leaving just one doubt…how to live in face of Perfection.

The Love Seeker Series – Book 2 – Lost

Having risen to a level of happiness that she would never have believed possible…her feet barely touch the ground as she’s soars through the new reality she has discovered within inside herself… and then comes the consequence of living with perfection in an imperfect world. Her dearest friends are confused by her new exuberance, some even jealous. Life is filled with the ease of love …perhaps too easy.

Many are drawn to her and fall in love, but she knows in her heart they are in love with the Peace reflecting brilliantly from within her. She feels invincible, unafraid to take on adventures she would never before have dared to touch. Her high minded arrogance comes crashing to the ground under the weight of too much experimenting… one moment high on love, the next high on drugs, then filled with the strength of love again, and then down again with drugs. The roller coaster of highs and lows twist her emotions, yet still she can find that Peace whenever she surrenders to it.

At the pinnacle of joy, her counterpart appears; Zohar Argov, the Mizrachi singer known as the “King” in Israel, where he was destined to become their most famous star in all of modern time. Drunk on love, she refuses to partake in the drugs that saturate his life. Instead, she clings to that Peace within, hoping that by her example, he too would too would find the love within himself. But he was somehow broken long before they met, and though he recognizes her Truth, he declares it cannot be for him.

Still the rage of love keeps burning between them.

The Love Seeker Series – Book 3 – Recovered

The bi-continental relationship with Zohar, takes a tragic turn. Profound despair leaves her wandering through a barren desert among the dead, until that perfect knowledge recalls her back to light.

A voice from within cries out to rejoin the living and a man comes asking her to marry him. She agrees on the condition that he can get her pregnant. Then she steals away with the child and raises her alone. Working as a massage therapist she uses her knowledge of Chi Gong and becomes a renowned healer.

For nine years no man comes. Then a lover she cannot resist takes her in his arms. Meeting secretly until they are certain of staying together… they bring the child into their relationship. But tragedy repeats itself and only the presence of her precocious child keeps her from going mad with grief… She sits back and sinks into her treasure… the endless love that faithfully waits within to rescue her.
Tragedy rebounds… her Mother dies… 9/11 delivers it’s brutal blow… and still life goes on. Understanding deepens with consciousness.

The power of love increases with vulnerability and the wings of the heart soar sweetly above the world of illusions.

Reviews for LOVE SEEKER

 

“Magnificent, reminiscent of Hemingway.”
Tim Gallwey, author of the Inner Game series.

 

“An emotional ride, hard to put down; kept me thinking for days. I would love to see this as an original TV series on Netflix or Amazon.”
Julie Phelan, former Director of Talent for Nickelodeon.

 

“Really so full of honesty, heartbreak, and beauty.”
Shane Hipps, author of Selling Water by the River

 

“As a window into a certain time and place it is fascinating, interesting and terrifying. Perhaps there’s a movie in it? i.e. Wild?”
Lawrence Blume, Director/Producer of Tiger Eyes

 

“Men found her irresistible, but no man and no tragedy could temper the seriousness of her quest
Mark Spradley