I just got back from a trip to the fourteenth century, courtesy of A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger. Set
primarily in London at the time of Chaucer (before he wrote Canterbury Tales), the book is a
historical thriller that will keep you turning the pages.
The main plot centers around a search for the “burnable book” of the
title. Said to be written during the reign of William the Conqueror, the
seditious book foretells the death of the English monarchs. Only the thirteenth
prophecy has not yet been fulfilled – and it is about the current king! At the
beginning of the novel, the book in question falls into the hands of Agnes, a maudlyn (prostitute), and Agnes enlists
her sister Millicent and a friend (Eleanor Rykener, also known as Edgar) into
helping figure out what to do with it. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Chaucer himself has
recruited his friend and fellow poet John Gower into helping him find the book.
It quickly becomes apparent that Chaucer is not the only one looking for the
book, and bit by bit it seems like all the omens leading to King Richard II’s
death are being fulfilled.
The primary plot is supplemented by a complex web of numerous subplots,
including the story of a girl from Spain, the ambitions of the mercenary John
Hawkwood, and Rykener’s quest to rescue younger brother Gerald from a dangerous
guardianship. The characters are well-developed, with believable interactions
with each other.
Holsinger gives us some glimpses of the life of royalty and other
members of the upper class, but for the most part, the reader is immersed into
the earthy lives of the maudlyns and
others who struggle to survive in a harsh world. The fourteenth century really
comes to life with the rich details of everyday living. Holsinger’s masterful
use of language provides a definite medieval ambience, with selected Middle
English words incorporated into the dialogue, but not so many as to make it
difficult for a modern reader to decipher.
Authors of historical fiction have artistic license to alter or
embellish some details in the interest of creating a more compelling story, but
there is the unwritten “rule” that the threads of history must remain intact if
the work is to be called historical fiction rather than, say, historical
fantasy or alternate history. When real historical figures are used as
characters, they must remain true to the nature of the actual historical
person. When not much is known about a historical figure, details may be made
up, but the goal should be to try to recreate the person as he or she really
may have been. I think Holsinger did a wonderful job in developing the Rykener
character, who was a real historical person, but one about whom very little is
known. My biggest qualm with the book is some discomfort with the character of
John Gower. We know relatively little about Gower’s real life, but we do have a
reasonably large corpus of surviving work that may provide insight into his
nature, as well as some known key details of his life. The characterization of
Gower as a combination of a blackmailer and a detective is not entirely
convincing relative to what we do know of Gower’s actual life. Also, for
someone who is supposed to be a devious and skilled snoop, Gower seems to make
a lot of blunders and miscalculations.
