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Jenny White
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Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson | ||
ISBN | 978-075382439 | ||
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Ann
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Synopsis
Constantinople, May 1453. In the dying days of the Byzantine empire, as 7000 armed men prepare to defend the city against the might of the Ottoman Turks, Isaak and his family are entrusted with a purple velvet bundle. Inside is a silver reliquary carved with the figure of a weeping angel and an inscription: Behold the Proof of Chora, Container of the Uncontainable. The daughter asks her father 'What's inside?' He replies 'This contains the proof of God'. In Istanbul in 1887, the local magistrate, Kamil Pasha, is plagued by thefts of antiquities from mosques and churches that, within days, appear for sale in Europe. In addition, there has been a series of murders in which the bodies bear the mark of angels wings. Could this be connected to the rumours of an ancient cult, the mythical text link between Christianity and Islam. His search takes him deep into the cisterns and tunnels of old Istanbul, to a deadly rivalry, possible love and a personal revelation about his father's past.
Review
I have always wanted to visit Istanbul, Byzantium, Constantinople, and the detail in this book makes that desire even more acute. One can envisage wandering the streets, exploring the markets and ruins, gazing at the churches and mosques and wallowing in the history. Perhaps a map would have helped those of us who have not been there.
The author is obviously an expert, but as a novel this didn't quite cut it for me. It seemed to fall between historical faction and only took off as a crime detection tale once the central character's friend is ceremonially murdered, which is well into the book. Characterisation was good, one did care, albeit slightly, what happened to the various people.
The issues of female circumcision and the role of women in society (particularly Elif) while obviously important in the whole scheme of things, seemed to have little relevance to the plot, as did the Abyssinians.
I didn't understand why the Proof as explained would have such momentous significance, but if so, as its existence had been known for centuries, knowledge of it would have been more widespread, and the depicted competition for its retrieval and/or suppression would surely also have been the concern of more organisations. The final disappearance of the Proof was disappointing and, bearing in mind what went before, totally unbelievable.
There is enough material and issues here to make several excellent books - it seemed to me that the author was trying to cram too much knowledge into one storyline.
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