The Serpent's Tale
Ariana Franklin
Reviewed by Jo Manning
Sometimes a sequel is the equal or better of the original novel, but most times it’s a disappointment. The happy thing to report about Ariana Franklin’s sequel to her successful and compelling debut novel, MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH, is that it’s very much better. Franklin (the pen name of British author Diana Norman), continues the story of young Adelia Aguilar, the Sicilian doctor to the dead – in today’s parlance, a forensic pathologist – with panache.
Adelia, a brilliant graduate of the school of medicine in Salerno, Italy – yes, they accepted women there in the latter half of the 12th century – came to England at the behest of King Henry II in the first book to investigate a string of child murders blamed on the Jews. Henry, a clever and astute monarch, depended on the English Jews for reasons of commerce and finance and did not want them driven out of his realm. He needed to have the real murderer found, hence his decision to find a doctor who could “talk” to the dead. But to maintain appearances and protect her from charges of witchcraft, Adelia must pretend she is the assistant to he friend Mansur, a tall, imposing Arab castrato.
In this sequel, Adelia, kept in England on King Henry’s orders, is summoned to look into the accidental death – or was it murder? – of Henry’s favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford aka the fabled Rosamund The Fair. It appears she died after eating one of her favorite dishes, a mélange of wild mushrooms. Adelia has no desire to travel from the Essex fens to Oxford to investigate the death. She is too busy being a mother to her baby daughter and serving the health needs of her neighbors and friends. (She’s also nursing a broken heart, the result of a painful separation from her lover Rowley Picot, the father of her child, who has taken holy orders and is now the Bishop of Saint Albans.)
She and her party are captured by rebel troops and taken to Godstow Abbey under the direction of Henry’s estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who with her son, Young Henry, is endeavoring to wrest England from her spouse with an army of mercenaries, traveling through a harsh winter landscape with a large staff of servants, an extraordinary number of trunks, and the conniving Abbot of Eynsham. Somewhere in this mix is at least one murderer, and though Eleanor is considered by most – including King Henry -- to be the likely culprit, Adelia, upon meeting and observing her character, has trouble believing it.
The story is full of intrigue, tricky subplots, more deaths, and colorful characters, all of whom come together at the nunnery north of Oxford, during one of the coldest, snowiest Yuletides in England. Adelia and Rowley (who’s also been captured, along with his men) find – to their dismay -- that separation and holy orders have not cooled their ardor, and Adelia is run ragged by the demands of her passion for her bishop lover, tending to near-fatal injuries, nursing her baby, and trying to find out who’s continuing to kill possible witnesses to Rosamund’s demise. (The answer will be a surprise! Franklin handles the plot and her characters well.)
When King Henry finally shows up there is an interesting pas de deux between him and the unrepentant Queen Eleanor that is eerily reminiscent of the best repartee in The Lion in Winter, the 1966 play (later made into two movie versions, the first of which earned Katharine Hepburn an Academy Award). Franklin has done her research, but she also has fun with the larger-than-life royals depicted here. (You’ll be intrigued, too, by the revisionist characterization of Saint Thomas à Becket. King Henry may have been well rid of him!)
More than a historical thriller, THE SERPENT'S TALE is a trip back into the roots of 12th century English justice and an exploration of the role of women in a society dominated by alpha men with all the power to dominate and crush at their disposal. Feisty Adelia’s a strong, fiercely intelligent character who stands up to royal and religious bullies, rough mercenary soldiers, and overweening aristocrats as she pursues justice for the dead as well as the living. This is a rich mix, to be deeply savored, and one can only hope that the series continues to be as good as the first two novels.
Order THE SERPENT'S TALE from
Amazon
About the Reviewer:
Jo Manning was a children’s librarian before she went back to graduate school and trained to become a research/reference librarian in academia (Washington State University, U. of Miami, others) and the corporate world (Reader’s Digest, ABC News, Citibank). She's always regarded children’s literature as the purest form of fiction. "These are often very moral books," she says, "and the lessons in them, as well as the characters, stick with you all of your life. (Think LITTLE WOMEN, PETER PAN, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, et al.)"
Jo has been writing fiction for publication since the 1990s. Starting with short stories (about a dozen were published in magazines and anthologies); going on to romance fiction (three novels - THE RELUCTANT GUARDIAN, SEDUCING MR. HEYWOOD, THE SICILIAN AMULET - two of them historical fiction); and her last book, MY LADY SCANDALOUS, a biography of the 18th century royal courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliott. Her newest work-in-process, YOU CAN BE HAPPY WITHOUT A MAN, is a Young Adult novel set in Victorian England about a young girl’s attempts to find a husband for her mother.
Order MY LADY SCANDALOUS from
Amazon