Reborn on Soutra: Key features:
This novel is written in a unique highly humorous and flirtatious style, and life in the Middle Ages is parodied in a Pythonesque and at times surreal fashion with some serious social messages intended for the present. The Scottish knight Sir Richard de Liddell visits the medieval hospitals on Soutra Hill on a regular basis to deliver herbal remedies from his garden on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. He is forced to seek sanctuary on the Soutra during 1436. He returns to Edinburgh in1462, as Le Chevalier Duncan Le Cottier, after a quarter-century of intrigue in York, France, and Patowmeck (in North America), during England's 100 years war with France and the subsequent dynastic struggles between the Yorkists and Lancastrians in England. There are numerous medical and psychological themes in the novel. Sir Richard suffers from a medieval form of Attention Deficit Disorder, Jonathan Hart is autistic and Count Rene of Anjou is psychopathic,
This novel is written in a unique highly humorous and flirtatious style, and life in the Middle Ages is parodied in a Pythonesque and at times surreal fashion with some serious social messages intended for the present. The Scottish knight Sir Richard de Liddell visits the medieval hospitals on Soutra Hill on a regular basis to deliver herbal remedies from his garden on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. He is forced to seek sanctuary on the Soutra during 1436. He returns to Edinburgh in1462, as Le Chevalier Duncan Le Cottier, after a quarter-century of intrigue in York, France, and Patowmeck (in North America), during England's 100 years war with France and the subsequent dynastic struggles between the Yorkists and Lancastrians in England. There are numerous medical and psychological themes in the novel. Sir Richard suffers from a medieval form of Attention Deficit Disorder, Jonathan Hart is autistic and Count Rene of Anjou is psychopathic,
**The
Jewish themes, and visions of the Rabbi of Dene, reflect the role
played by the Children of Israel during the Middle Ages when
emphasising the importance of developing a prosperous, peaceful,
all-accepting society. Sir Richard's paramours Bagoas, Meg, Ruth and
Xavier are all Jewish, and he has two Jewish sons. The Jewish
community in Provence is highlighted.
**
The medical developments on the Soutra, in Edinburgh, York,
Marseilles, and at the University of Montpellier in Provence play a
predominant role in Sir Richard's life.
**
The diverse nature of human feelings and emotional relationships is
reflected by Sir Richard's experiences with his wives and lovers.
**
Several medieval battles are re-enacted from the perspective of
participants.
**
The omniscient Goddess Asherah perceives the thoughts of all
mortals as they reflect on each other. (Similar multiperspective
devices are used by Salman Rushdie, José Saramago, and others.)
BACK TO CONTENTS
BACK TO CONTENTS
No comments:
Post a Comment