A Stolen Tongue

So far so very good. If you know me, I suppose the fact that a book about Christian pilgrims in the 15th century as told from the perspective of a priest with a hardcore obsession with relics of Saint Katherine of Alexandria, all trying to get to Sinai by boat and then land, combined with a whodunnit kind of page turner mystery attracted me is not a surprise. The author has a sly kind of writing, and knows how to turn a phrase. Trying to read slow to savor it, but having trouble putting it down. Dense, odd, tough, funny, and clever. So far, it is a most fine $1 book bin score!

I don't know anyone to whom I could recommend this book, but it has stayed with me years after reading it. It's possibly the most repellent book on my all-time favorites list. It's grotesque, compelling, and quite unlike anything I've ever read. The plot involves a monk devoted to St. Catherine of Alexandria, his patron, a sinister translator, a young woman who is either a lunatic or a saint, a medieval pilgrimage, and holy relics including the titular tongue.

Hmmm. I should give an extra star to Holman for portraying misogyny so well I had trouble reconciling her with the author of The Mammoth Cheese. I was hot and cold on this book, but ultimately was reeled in enough to want to stick around to see how it ended. Still exceeds my personal woo limits.

A Stolen Tongue by Sheri Holman. In one of those strange coincidences, both Past Poison and the very next book on my stack involve Saint Catherine of Alexandria. In Holman’s tale, Friar Felix Fabri is on pilgrimage from Germany to Mount Sinai in 1483 to honor Catherine, his spiritual bride. He is accompanied by Lord Tucher and his son Ursus, a barber named Conrad and Archdeacon John Lazinus from Hungary. Their trip is disrupted by the discovery that the holy relics of Catherine are being stolen from their resting places in churches along their path. A mysterious woman, who claims that the saint speaks through her, and her older brother along with his Marmeluke servant add to the confusion. Felix assigns himself the task of recovering show more the relics, but is thwarted at every turn until the climatic scene upon the mount.
The book is written as a diary crafted by Fabri for his brothers at the Dominican monastery in Ulm in which he describes the hardships that 15th-century pilgrims face each day, whether aboard ship, in Saracen-controlled cities or while journeying across the desert sands. His writing also exposes his own secrets and sins as well as those of his fellow travelers. Through this method, the characters and journey are well-developed, but the mystery takes second billing. There are long stretches in the middle of the story with little progress being made towards its solution. This style may be a bit too slow for many readers and reminds me a little of The Grenadillo Box by Janet Gleeson, though the settings are completely different and the language more conversational.

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