435 pages
English language
Published Aug. 8, 2010 by Doubleday.
"Giordano Bruno was a monk, poet, scientist, and magician on the run from the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. This alone could have got him burned at the stake, but he was also a student of occult philosophies and magic. In S. J. Parris's gripping novel, Bruno's pursuit of this rare knowledge brings him to London, where he is unexpectedly recruited by Queen Elizabeth I and is sent undercover to Oxford University on the pretext of a royal visitation. Officially Bruno is to take part in a debate on the Copernican theory of the universe; unofficially, he is to find out whatever he can about a Catholic plot to overthrow the queen. His mission is dramatically thrown off course by a series of grisly murders and a spirited and beautiful young woman. As Bruno …
"Giordano Bruno was a monk, poet, scientist, and magician on the run from the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. This alone could have got him burned at the stake, but he was also a student of occult philosophies and magic. In S. J. Parris's gripping novel, Bruno's pursuit of this rare knowledge brings him to London, where he is unexpectedly recruited by Queen Elizabeth I and is sent undercover to Oxford University on the pretext of a royal visitation. Officially Bruno is to take part in a debate on the Copernican theory of the universe; unofficially, he is to find out whatever he can about a Catholic plot to overthrow the queen. His mission is dramatically thrown off course by a series of grisly murders and a spirited and beautiful young woman. As Bruno begins to discover a pattern in these killings, he realizes that no one at Oxford is who he seems to be. Bruno must attempt to outwit a killer who appears obsessed with the boundary between truth and heresy. Like The Dante Club and The Alienist, this clever, sophisticated, exceptionally enjoyable novel is written with the unstoppable narrative propulsion and stylistic flair of the very best historical thrillers.
If Giordano Bruno may have been a spy in addition to a revolutionary philosopher, why not also a 16th-century detective? An enjoyable imagining.
Although not a specialist of the period of Elizabeth's reign, this books seems to me very successful in recreating the period, it's atmosphere and it's problems. While Elizabeth was trying to have England truly accept the new faith while sparing when possible the sensitivity of those nostalgic about the Pope, numerous plots where taking place to restore the old faith and as many counter-plots to try to thwart those efforts.
It is in this context that a excommunicated former monk from Italy gets involved as a spy for an earl who is very close to the queen.
While the plot doesn't throw you off your chair with surprising revelations and developments, it does move on it's way methodically while keeping a certain sense of suspense constantly hanging in the air. The characters are very believable involved as they are in both their religious motivations as well as more pragmatically personal …
Although not a specialist of the period of Elizabeth's reign, this books seems to me very successful in recreating the period, it's atmosphere and it's problems. While Elizabeth was trying to have England truly accept the new faith while sparing when possible the sensitivity of those nostalgic about the Pope, numerous plots where taking place to restore the old faith and as many counter-plots to try to thwart those efforts.
It is in this context that a excommunicated former monk from Italy gets involved as a spy for an earl who is very close to the queen.
While the plot doesn't throw you off your chair with surprising revelations and developments, it does move on it's way methodically while keeping a certain sense of suspense constantly hanging in the air. The characters are very believable involved as they are in both their religious motivations as well as more pragmatically personal ones that would lead to their immediate material profit. This is disclosed to us progressively as the characters slowly disclose their inner conflicts and complexity (or lack thereof.)
Stephanie Merritt (alias S.J. Parris) give us a very good read, interesting to the end.
