Poison

Rating:
Summary: Terror, turmoil and passion in 17th century Spain
Review: This 1996 novel by Kathryn Harrison is a work of pure artistry. The reader is plunged into 17th century Spain and hurled into the contrasting lives of Francisca, the daughter of a poor Spanish silk grower, and Marie Louise de Bourbon, the young and tragic Queen of Spain.

The words are pure poetry and filled with fascinating historical details: silk worms and exotic poisons, court life and the dungeons of the Inquisition, wet-nurses and dwarfs, religion and politics. It's all there.

The world she describes made me squirm. Pulled me into the story, and kept me turning the pages.

Against this background, and with exquisite detail, the reader is thrust into the lives of these two women. Our hearts race with forbidden passion and we shudder with fear of the Inquisition carts. We visit the royal bedchamber as well as the torturer's rack.

There's love in this book, and lots of sadness. There are lessons to learn and metaphors for life. People to care about. Sin, deception, betrayal. And, when the book is over, there is the feeling of having lived for a short while through the terror and turmoil that defined 17th century Spain.

This book is not for the squeamish. Or for those who are looking for a light pleasant read. But for those who are willing to experience the harshness of the world it describes, this is a really fine book.

Rating:
Summary: Terror, turmoil and passion in 17th century Spain
Review: This 1996 novel by Kathryn Harrison is a work of pure artistry. The reader is plunged into 17th century Spain and hurled into the contrasting lives of Francisca, the daughter of a poor Spanish silk grower, and Marie Louise de Bourbon, the young and tragic Queen of Spain.

The words are pure poetry and filled with fascinating historical details: silk worms and exotic poisons, court life and the dungeons of the Inquisition, wet-nurses and dwarfs, religion and politics. It's all there.

The world she describes made me squirm. Pulled me into the story, and kept me turning the pages.

Against this background, and with exquisite detail, the reader is thrust into the lives of these two women. Our hearts race with forbidden passion and we shudder with fear of the Inquisition carts. We visit the royal bedchamber as well as the torturer's rack.

There's love in this book, and lots of sadness. There are lessons to learn and metaphors for life. People to care about. Sin, deception, betrayal. And, when the book is over, there is the feeling of having lived for a short while through the terror and turmoil that defined 17th century Spain.

This book is not for the squeamish. Or for those who are looking for a light pleasant read. But for those who are willing to experience the harshness of the world it describes, this is a really fine book.