|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
As the author of several plays, it's not surprising that Philip De Poy writes dialogue masterfully and creates believable and interesting characters. In THE KING JAMES CONSPIRACY, he sets aside his popular Appalachian detective Fever Devilin to venture into 17th century England. His current novel intermingles history and religion as mysterious deaths plague the Cambridge scholars assembled to work on the new English bible commissioned by King James in 1604. All educated readers are familiar with the beauty of the translation that was produced but few know of the problems the work presented to the scholars assembled to work on it. The Vatican is upset by this translation project and Pope Clement is determined to disrupt and discredit the work. His ultimate aim is to reclaim England for Catholicism. When one of the scholars is murdered, the Pope seizes the opportunity to covertly send in his secret agent to help Deacon Marbury with the murder investigations. Brother Timon is a monk of many talents. Not only is he an assassin well equipped to defend or attack when needed but he also possesses a special gift. He can memorize numerous texts with the aid of his memory wheel. The Vatican wants to know what material has been gathered together for this new bible. If nothing else, Dan Brown's novel, THE DAVINCI CODE brought the knowledge of alternative manuscripts from the early days of Christianity into the public consciousness. Depoy treads in some of the same waters. During the course of his investigations, Brother Timon is exposed to the contents of the Gospels of Thomas and Mary (Magdalene) for example. These were purposefully excluded from the list of accepted Christian texts. Pope Clement believes that to include some of their contents in the new bible would call into question some basic tenets of the Christian teachings. So in spite of Brother Timon's mission, is it the Vatican which is responsible for the murders in an attempt to repress the contents of these writings? Brother Timon is a complex and multi-dimensional character. His faith is both challenged and rekindled by the texts he is memorizing. He is also impressed with the characters of Deacon Marbury and his educated daughter Anne. Timon's real task in Cambridge is disguised by his role as Anne's tutor. And while his criminal skills are needed in Cambridge as the murders proliferate, his personal and spiritual life undergo a transformation. A number of characters in this novel are based on historical figures. The director of one group of translators in Cambridge did die under mysterious circumstances. Francis Marbury and his daughter were present at that time. Later, Anne emigrated to Jamestown and became America's first feminist in the 17th century. While Depoy says the only truly fictional character is Brother Timon, he includes at least one of the talents of Giordano Bruno, a Catholic saint killed in 1600 during the Inquisition. His ability to memorize thousands of pages of texts using his own invention, the memory wheels, brought him to the attention of the pope and he did in fact live in England for a time, possibly in Oxford. His memory science died with him. As always, a story which mixes fact and fiction is both entertaining and confusing as to what REALLY happened. However, I enjoy leaning new facts while being entertained by the fiction. Who knew that King James wrote a book on demonology and was perhaps a bit wacky about the subject! A good read, and one that not only those who loved DA VINCI CODE will enjoy.
Reviewed by Ann Pearson, August 2009
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
