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In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.
July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery — two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.
Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.
In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way...
Review:
"Mosse's page-turner takes readers on another quest for the Holy Grail, this time with two closely linked female protagonists born 800 years apart. In 2005, Alice Tanner stumbles into a hidden cave while on an archeological dig in southwest France. Her discovery — two skeletons and a labyrinth pattern engraved on the wall and on a ring — triggers visions of the past and propels her into a dangerous race against those who want the mystery of the cave for themselves. Alaïs, in the year 1209, is a plucky 17-year-old living in the French city of Carcassone, an outpost of the tolerant Cathar Christian sect that has been declared heretical by the Catholic Church. As Carcassonne comes under siege by the Crusaders, Alaïs's father, Bertrand Pelletier, entrusts her with a book that is part of a sacred trilogy connected to the Holy Grail. Guardians of the trilogy are operating against evil forces — including Alaïs's sister, Oriane, a traitorous, sexed-up villainess who wants the books for her own purposes. Sitting securely in the historical religious quest genre, Mosse's fluently written third novel (after Crucifix Lane) may tantalize (if not satisfy) the legions of Da Vinci Code devotees with its promise of revelation about Christianity's truths." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Kate Mosse's enviable accomplishments include being co-founder and honorary director of the Orange Prize for fiction as well as a respected commentator on the arts for the BBC. Lately, though, she's enjoyed an even more mouthwatering success. Having already published two well-received novels of a literary bent, including 1996's poignant 'Eskimo Kissing,' she turned her hand to what she unabashedly... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) calls 'commercial fiction,' a time-slip novel that her publishers have billed as a 'women's adventure story.' The result, a doorstop of a historical thriller, quickly sprinted to the top of the best-seller lists in her native Britain. 'Labyrinth' is a 'women's' adventure story because, presumably, it showcases a strong female cast or, rather, a cast of strong females: two heroines, separated by 800 years, who find themselves pitted against a pair of glamorous, green-eyed female villains. As for the adventure bit, Mosse clearly warmed to her task, packing the novel with swordfights, sieges and massacres. At its heart is a hunt for the Holy Grail across the ruggedly beautiful Cathar country of southwest France. All this medieval mayhem would be pointless without Mosse's good plot to hold things together. The story starts in the present with Alice, a lovelorn twenty-something on an archaeological dig in France, accidentally uncovering a pair of ancient skeletons and a stone ring embossed with a labyrinth symbol. So begins a fast-paced series of events that not only threatens Alice's life (cue a crucifix-wearing racist and sex offender named Authie) but also duplicates those that befell her medieval counterpart and near-namesake Alais, a plucky young newlywed from the nearby city of Carcassonne. The second strand of narrative — cleverly intertwined with the first — tells how, in the summer of 1209, as Carcassonne was besieged by bloodthirsty Crusaders, Alais headed for the hills with a mysterious book of hieroglyphics entrusted to her by her dying father. Medieval history and legend are nimbly brought together in this second branch of the story. That the repulsive Authie wears a crucifix should alert us as to how Catholics (who worship what Alais calls a 'cruel God') will become the baddies of the piece. Mosse shows the Crusaders as bent on stamping out heresy and, while they were at it, colonizing the rich lands of France's southern nobility. Their victims, the Cathars, currently enjoy a place as the most attractive and sympathetic of medieval heretics, and it's not hard to understand their modern appeal: They were, among other things, vegetarians who ordained female priests, believed in reincarnation and regarded Jews and Muslims as their equals. They were, according to Alais, 'good men, tolerant men, men of peace who celebrated a God of Light.' These liberal opinions served to get them evicted from their strongholds in the Languedoc area after a brutal, decades-long military campaign known as the Albigensian Crusade — an act of persecution whose flesh-burning zeal Mosse recounts in terrifying detail. Yet there's more to the Cathar story, of course. As every Grail buff knows, the Cathars were supposedly protectors of the Holy Grail, whose hiding place was the mountains of the Languedoc. Mosse duly picks up this legend but gives it a new twist: Early on, we learn how the true Grail (which turns out to have little to do with chalices or, indeed, Christianity) is summoned by bringing together three books known as the 'Labyrinth Trilogy.' One of these Alais has smuggled into a remote place in the Pyrenees; the other two have fallen into the clutches of her evil sister Oriane, a temptress who acquired one of them while bedding Alais' handsome new husband. Oriane will commit worse crimes than that, we suspect, to lay her hands on the final copy. Following the extraordinary sales of a certain other best-seller, it would be tempting — but unfair — to attribute the success of 'Labyrinth' to its scheming Catholics and reworking of the Grail legend. Nor is 'Labyrinth,' as a work of commercial fiction, a cynical half-measure or crude attempt by a 'serious' writer to pander to a wide audience. Mosse's writing does occasionally lapse into the cliches of the ripping-good-yarn genre. She provides plenty of what might be called cardiopulmonary hyperbole (pounding hearts, gasping lungs), as well as one too many cases of a character blacking out after an unexpected encounter between her skull and a blunt object. Still, the novel distinguishes itself by juggling two compelling story lines, unscrambling (and making digestible) chunks of medieval history and offering a pleasing wealth of information about the Languedoc, a region whose landscape and history Mosse loves deeply and knows intimately. Her contagious enthusiasm for the subject and dexterous handling of her material make for an open-throttle narrative drive across 500 pages of white-knuckle twists and turns. A women's adventure novel? 'Labyrinth' is a thumping good read that men, too, will surely enjoy. Why should the girls have all the fun? Ross King is the author, most recently, of 'The Judgment of Paris.'" Reviewed by Ross King, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)
Review:
"[A]n entertaining Grail-quest tale....Although the novel contains lulls in places, the medieval story is exciting. Expect demand." Booklist
Review:
"[A] quickly paced adventure that wears its considerable learning lightly — and of higher literary quality than The Da Vinci Code....Fun for most of the way — and very likely to be one of next summer's popular vacation reads." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"Mosse's obvious love of the region's Occitan language infuses her prose with great passion. However, the trick of alternating story lines becomes confusing, as does the irritating plethora of mystical objects. A flawed work..." Library Journal
Review:
"Dr. Tanner's headlong quest for the truth is often exhilarating, and if you can also get hooked on Alaïs' ancient melodrama (I ultimately couldn't, though I admired its intricacy), Labyrinth will make for a ripping yarn. (Grade: B+)" Entertainment Weekly
Review:
"Labyrinth is a nice, long, escapist read for these last winter evenings, leaving readers with the comfortable sense that in fiction, at least, there are still happy endings." Hartford Courant
Synopsis:
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.
Synopsis:
July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth.
Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade that will rip apart southern France, a young woman named Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. Now, as crusading armies gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take a tremendous sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.
Kate Mosse is the cofounder and honorary director of the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she was named European Woman of Achievement for her contribution to the arts in 2000. She presented BBC 4's flagship Readers and Writers Roadshow and is a guest presenter on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review.
sherylsview, November 12, 2006 (view all comments by sherylsview)
IMMENSELY DISAPPOINTED...I can find no other word or words...I was elated when I discovered this text at my neighbourhood bookstore...after reading the jacket cover, I could not stop myself from purchasing it...I began to devour it immediately...to my great disappointment, by the fourth chapter I realized the literary quest I was craving was not to be discovered here...that said, I am one to give anything a fair opportunity, so I set out to read the remaining pages...although the foundational concept of the book is intriguing...I must say its execution lacked a convincing rhythm.
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Product details
528 pages
Putnam Publishing Group -
English9780399153440
Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Mosse's page-turner takes readers on another quest for the Holy Grail, this time with two closely linked female protagonists born 800 years apart. In 2005, Alice Tanner stumbles into a hidden cave while on an archeological dig in southwest France. Her discovery — two skeletons and a labyrinth pattern engraved on the wall and on a ring — triggers visions of the past and propels her into a dangerous race against those who want the mystery of the cave for themselves. Alaïs, in the year 1209, is a plucky 17-year-old living in the French city of Carcassone, an outpost of the tolerant Cathar Christian sect that has been declared heretical by the Catholic Church. As Carcassonne comes under siege by the Crusaders, Alaïs's father, Bertrand Pelletier, entrusts her with a book that is part of a sacred trilogy connected to the Holy Grail. Guardians of the trilogy are operating against evil forces — including Alaïs's sister, Oriane, a traitorous, sexed-up villainess who wants the books for her own purposes. Sitting securely in the historical religious quest genre, Mosse's fluently written third novel (after Crucifix Lane) may tantalize (if not satisfy) the legions of Da Vinci Code devotees with its promise of revelation about Christianity's truths." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review"
by Booklist,
"[A]n entertaining Grail-quest tale....Although the novel contains lulls in places, the medieval story is exciting. Expect demand."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"[A] quickly paced adventure that wears its considerable learning lightly — and of higher literary quality than The Da Vinci Code....Fun for most of the way — and very likely to be one of next summer's popular vacation reads."
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"Mosse's obvious love of the region's Occitan language infuses her prose with great passion. However, the trick of alternating story lines becomes confusing, as does the irritating plethora of mystical objects. A flawed work..."
"Review"
by Entertainment Weekly,
"Dr. Tanner's headlong quest for the truth is often exhilarating, and if you can also get hooked on Alaïs' ancient melodrama (I ultimately couldn't, though I admired its intricacy), Labyrinth will make for a ripping yarn. (Grade: B+)"
"Review"
by Hartford Courant,
"Labyrinth is a nice, long, escapist read for these last winter evenings, leaving readers with the comfortable sense that in fiction, at least, there are still happy endings."
"Synopsis"
by chrisb@powells.com,
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth.
Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade that will rip apart southern France, a young woman named Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. Now, as crusading armies gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take a tremendous sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.
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