Standalone Saturday ... Book of Blood and Shadows

Review of Book of Blood and Shadow

by Robin Wasserman

Knopf Books for Young Readers

April 10, 2012

Source: borrowed from the library

My summary: Nora, a senior at Chapman Prep in Massachusetts, grew up in a literary family, daughter of a Latin professor father and a bookseller mother. The three of them quietly mourn Nora's brother, who plowed his car into a tree, killing himself and his girlfriend. When Nora's best friend Chris suggests that she join him and his roommate Max on a team researching a trove of letters related to the Voynich manuscript, she's skeptical. The crusty professor in charge asks her to translate letters written by Elizabeth Kelley, daughter of a late sixteenth-century alchemist.  She discovers a mysterious clue, then tragedy strikes. Chris is murdered, his girlfriend Adriane left catatonic, while Max is missing.  Nora begins to suspect that her team has stumbled upon clues to an ancient treasure hidden by a secret society, clues that will send her to the historic city of Prague, where she'll be running for her life.

My take: It's hard to know what to call this book -- a literary mystery, a code-cracking thriller, a high stakes treasure hunt. It's all of those things in one. The Book of Blood and Shadow is intricately plotted, seamlessly blending past with present and fact with fiction.

Crypto-geeks and aspiring spies like me know that codes and encrypted messages date back to ancient times. The Voynich manuscript, believed to have been written in the fifteenth century, surfaced in 1912. Since then, amateur and professional cryptographers have tried --- and failed --  to crack its code.

I loved the way Robin Wasserman weaves real sixteenth-century figures (Emperor Rudoph II, alchemist Edward Kelley and his daughter) and real places into her story. I've never been to Prague, where a large part of the book takes place, and I loved the way that Wasserman drew on the city's rich history and landmarks to add historical detail and a strong sense of place. She also creates a truly creepy ancient secret society centered around black magic and alchemy. I can't say more without spoilers!

To that, add an intriguing cast of fictional kids. Nora is wary and prickly, making a great foil to nice-guy Chris. The book's blurb says that Max is Nora's "Prince Charming," but to me, the tangle of relationships in this book is way more complicated than that.  Nora is secretly in love with Chris but dating Max. After Chris is murdered, his enigmatic cousin Eli appears, insisting on accompanying Nora and Adriane to Prague.

The Book of Blood and Shadow kept me spellbound until the last page. I've seen comparisons of this book to the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I enjoyed DaVinci Code as much as the next person, and I do see the similarities: scholars, secret societies, running for one's life.

As I was reading The Book of Blood and Shadow, my mind was going in more literary directions. I was reminded of:

Possession by A.S. Byatt is a literary mystery/romance that won the Man Booker prize in 1990. Two rival scholars, each researching a different Victorian poet, begin to suspect that their research subjects may have carried on a secret affair. I love this book so much!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt involves an erudite group of college friends, an ancient ritual, and a murder.

Frankenstein features black magic of sorts, raising interesting questions about what happens when men try to play God.

But that's the way my mind works. Results may vary. Pick this book up if you like historical intrigue, treasure hunts, books about secret societies, great travelogues, heart-pounding suspense.

What do you think? What are you reading this weekend?