Synopses & Reviews
"His most complex and daring book....This is a brilliant novel". -- Washington Post Book World
In his sixth and most ambitious novel, Caryl Phillips creates a dazzling kaleidoscope of historical fiction, one which illuminates the dark legacy of Europe's obsession with race and blood.
At its center is the fragile Eva Stem, a survivor of a Nazi death camp, whose story is interwoven with those of others whose lives are similarly haunted: her uncle Stephan, who abandons his family in order to join the Palestinian underground; the Moorish general Othello, who in marrying Desdemona betrays both himself and his African wife; three Jews in fifteenth-century Venice who are falsely accused of a murder; and an Ethiopian woman struggling for acceptance in contemporary Israel. Through disparate lands and centuries, Phillips creates an unforgettable group portrait of individuals overwhelmed by the force of European tribalism.
"An extraordinarily perceptive and intelligent novel, and a haunting one". -- The New York Times
"Phillips triumphs again....(His) writing now is a connective tissue that links disjointed centuries, continents, experiences and perspectives". -- Newsday
Synopsis
In his most ambitious novel to date, Phillips creates a dazzling kaleidoscope of historical fiction, one that illuminates the dark legacy of Europe's obsession with race and blood. At the center of
The Nature of Blood is a young woman, a Nazi death camp survivor, devastated by the loss of everyone she loves. Her story is interwoven with a cast of characters from both the present and past: her uncle Stephan, Othello the Moorish general, three Jews in 15th century Venice, and an Ethiopian Jew struggling for acceptance in contemporary Israel. Tracing these characters through disparate lands and centuries, Phillips creates an unforgettable group portrait of individuals overwhelmed by the force of European tribalism.
"An extraordinarily perceptive and intelligent novel, and a haunting one."--New York Times