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Sacrilege A Novel SJ Parris 9780385535472 Books

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Sacrilege A Novel SJ Parris 9780385535472 Books

(NO PLOT SPOILERS) The third in the series is an incredible disappointment to me. First, enough with the repetition. I'm not tired of Bruno suddenly fearing he's being followed only to turn around with his hand on his dagger to find....nothing. I'll spare you, but there's all sort of little repetitive tricks like that going on and by the third book, I've had enough of them.

I also personally feel the choice of the plot in this one is very bad. I couldn't wait to finish the first two. I tossed this about a quarter of the way through. I will give her next book a try though - she's earned that. The further has a good grasp of history, presents it well, and generally writes so that the reader feels truly immersed.


Tags : Sacrilege: A Novel [S.J. Parris] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>A gripping historical thriller set in sixteenth-century England and centered on the highly secretive cult of Saint Thomas Becket,S.J. Parris,Sacrilege: A Novel,Doubleday,0385535473,Christian heretics;Fiction.,London (England);History;16th century;Fiction.,Philosophers;Fiction.,16th century,Canterbury (England),Christian heretics,English Historical Fiction,English Mystery & Suspense Fiction,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Historical,Fiction Mystery & Detective Historical,Fiction Thrillers General,Historical - General,History,Mystery & Detective - Historical,Philosophers,Thrillers - General

Sacrilege A Novel SJ Parris 9780385535472 Books Reviews

Seems like the author is planning a long stream of these. I thought things would be wrapped up in the 3 books but she appears to be going for more and I assume she'll keep writing as long as we keep buying. I'm done. Plot spoiler so stop reading if you don't want to know more. Bruno, I just don't care any more if you ever get the book. I'm not going to keep following you on more of these adventures. Really, 3 is enough. These were generally good, but this plot line needs to end.
By Douglas Horne, author of "Inside the Assassination Records Review Board"

This third Giordano Bruno mystery by Stephanie Merritt was just as enthralling as the first two, "Heresy" and "Prophecy"---perhaps even more so, because it reunites the two ultimately doomed protagonists of the first novel heretical philosopher Giordano Bruno (on the run from the Catholic Church and the Inquisition in what we now call Italy) and Sophia Underhill (the disgraced daughter of the Rector of Lincoln College at Oxford University). Most readers of "Sacrilege" will have already read the first two novels, so the characters of our two protagonists in this novel are already well established, and the author had the luxury of weaving further subtlety, and indeed mystery, into what had already been established in her two earlier works. This is particularly true of her portrayal of Sophia Underhill.

The story works all by itself as a good mystery, with unexpected plot twists at the end that I did not foresee. One of the major strengths of this novel is Merritt's continued, eminently successful re-creation of society in Elizabethan England---both the life of commoners, and the treacherous plots and schemes involving the power elite in this time of constant tension, and largely subterranean war, between Queen Elizabeth's nominally Protestant regime and the embittered, determined Catholic underground.

Whereas "Heresy" gave us a good look at life in Oxford in 1583, and "Prophecy" at the dangerous life at Elizabeth's court immediately thereafter, "Sacrilege" places us in Canterbury in the late summer of 1584, amidst the plotting and scheming of the Catholic underground, centered around the cult of Saint Thomas Becket, who had been martyred by King Henry II's knights four hundred years earlier.

Our hero, Giordano Bruno, is trying to do two things at once clear the name of the woman with whom he is hopelessly obsessed---Sophia Underhill---of charges of murder; and simultaneously penetrate the Catholic underground in Canterbury for his secret patron, Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster. I won't provide any spoilers here, but will simply promise that the plot is sufficiently complex, and takes enough unexpected turns, to keep the reader riveted. Like the first two novels in this series, it is the kind of book that is hard to put down, so start reading it on a Friday night when you have the weekend to finish it.

In places, this novel burns with smoldering sensuality---and I find it interesting that the sexual drives and complicated emotions of our hero, Bruno himself, are completely convincing and realistic to this one male reviewer, even though the novel is written by a woman. Stephanie Merritt has written convincingly about the sexual motivations of both of her protagonists, male and female, which is no mean accomplishment.

Particularly fascinating to me is how the reader so desperately wants Bruno to succeed in his quests in each of these novels, in spite of our historical certainty that he was ultimately doomed to be burned alive at the stake, by the Inquisition in Rome, in February of 1600. The author has made us care about Bruno, to the extent that we identify with him, as if he were a person of the modern age trapped in an age of superstition, rigid dogma, and intolerance. Stephanie Merritt has brilliantly succeeded in making "the journey" Bruno takes on his path to ultimate self-destruction what matters, not the final outcome, for we already know what that is.

Perhaps this has been so successful in the first three novels because Bruno actually WAS in Elizabeth's England between 1583 and 1585, the years in which the first three novels are set. Stephanie Merritt, a beautiful and accomplished Englishwoman of letters, has proven extremely adept in reconstructing true historical figures in her three novels---Francis Walsingham, Lord Burghley, John Dee, Sir Phillip Sidney, and Queen Elizabeth herself. The author not only entertains us, but we learn about how complex were the politics of the day not only in England, but in Europe as well.

The next novel in the Giordano Bruno mystery series must inevitably trace Bruno's journey back to Paris, for he did return there late in 1585, and "Sacrilege" ends as the new year of 1585 begins. I hope the author is as successful at re-creating the unsettled politics of Paris in 1585 and 1586, as she has been at replicating the tension and near-desperation at the Elizabethan court in this age of turmoil, when Spain and Catholic Europe were plotting so assiduously for Elizabeth's downfall. (As "Sacrilege" ends, the Armada, King Phillip II's "Enterprise of England," is only about three years distant.)

Finally, I want to thank Stephanie Merritt for telling us just enough about Bruno to ground and define his character, but not everything. Her occasional forays into describing some of his writings and activities have served as a stimulus to this reader to learn more about this fascinating, restless, opinionated, brave, and yes, occasionally reckless man. Her fascination with him has been conveyed to at least one reader---me---and no doubt to countless others.

I can't wait for the next book!
I don't find it necessary to recap the plot in a book review. There are other sources for that. If you liked any of her other stories about Bruno, I think you'll like this one a lot. A small amount of child abuse but it's important to the story and you can skip over it. I don't know if the author faithfully captures the period, and don't really care. The story seemed plausible and genuine. This is my third of the Bruno books and I'll read the enxt one as well.
The third book in Parris’ Giordano Bruno heretic and spy series, Sacrilege finds our philosopher hero, Bruno, at his most vulnerable yet. Still living in the French embassy it’s not until Bruno discovers the identity of the person following him through the streets of London that he’s reconnected with someone from his recent past, someone for whom he has strong feelings. When asked to help this person clear their name of a crime they didn’t commit, Bruno is unable to refuse. Seeking the permission of his employer, the spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham to go to Canterbury, he’s also tasked with uncovering any Catholic plotters in the heart of a city once famed as a site of pilgrimage and the place where Thomas Beckett’s bones were once buried.
Travelling under a non-de plume, Bruno arrives in Canterbury and discovers plots and plans aplenty. But when the body count rises and he’s accused of terrible crimes, it’s not just his friend’s name he has to clear or Sir Francis’ suspicions he has to lay to rest. Bruno finds himself fighting for his life and the only way he can save himself and his friend is to uncover a conspiracy so dark and tightly controlled that has the potential to bring down the greatest men in Canterbury – men who will stop at nothing to protect their own hides, even if it means killing innocents.
Once again, this is a terrifically written and paced novel that allows fans of the series even more insights into the central character and the strengths and, indeed, weaknesses that make him so appealing. Whereas other books have focussed a great deal on the ideologies and philosophies that shaped the era, the laws of the cosmos, the role of magic and mathematics, divine intervention and Bruno’s opinions and studies in these areas, lending the books a historical authenticity and the demonstrating the author’s research and understanding, this novel relies more on character and plot and I think is better for that. Any references to beliefs or famous treatises and how they influence Elizabethan thought is seamlessly woven into the narrative rather than sitting apart as a dinner conversation or dialogue/debate between two learned men. It’s as if Parris is more comfortable with her material now and the reader can appreciate her considerable knowledge and she can just get on with the story. And what a story it is – treachery, sacrilege, betrayal, love, death and faith all feature as does the book for which Bruno will sacrifice anything… or will he?
(NO PLOT SPOILERS) The third in the series is an incredible disappointment to me. First, enough with the repetition. I'm not tired of Bruno suddenly fearing he's being followed only to turn around with his hand on his dagger to find....nothing. I'll spare you, but there's all sort of little repetitive tricks like that going on and by the third book, I've had enough of them.

I also personally feel the choice of the plot in this one is very bad. I couldn't wait to finish the first two. I tossed this about a quarter of the way through. I will give her next book a try though - she's earned that. The further has a good grasp of history, presents it well, and generally writes so that the reader feels truly immersed.