S. J. Parris, Alchemy (2023)
GoodReads Meta-data is 473 pages rated 4.47 by 337 litizens
Genre: Krimi: Species: Period.
Verdict: intense
Tagline: Fear the book!
It is the winter of 1588 along the River Vltava in Prague as Dr Giordano Bruno arrived, ingenue assistant in tow, sent by Francis Walsingham, English Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, to make contact with his agent-in-place John Dee. No sooner did Bruno cross the stone bridge than he was set upon that very dark and dreary night by two Spanish thugs. No Pilsner for him.
Prague was then a polyglot crossroads where the Holy Roman Emperor, having vacated Vienna for a quieter life in rustic Prague, shut himself up in the castle on the hill. This hermit is Rudolph II (1552-1612) whose interests are so otherworldly that he allowed religious freedom within the city. The result was that Catholics hate him for tolerating Protestants who in turn hated him for tolerating Catholics, and the two only combine to hate Jews, who know a good thing cannot last.
Rudolph, barely five feet tall in pumps, is fragile but determined. Most of that determination is devoted to his scientific and meta-scientific interest in this, that, and everything from automatons to Harry Potter’s philosopher’s stone. His patronage has attracted to Prague scientist, alchemists, astronomers, occultists, mediums, seers, and charlatans who speak a babel of tongues.
The Papal nuncio plots his downfall with the ready assistance of the Spanish ambassador, while Protestants undermine Rudolph’s tolerant Catholic chief minister. In between the Jewish community knows that whoever prevails will come after it next and so makes campaign contributions to both parties.
There are so many wheels within wheels that it takes quick-witted Bruno an interminably long time to sort them out. The open-faced and friendly librarian is stealing books from the Imperial Library. The honest and steadfast book dealer is corrupt. The dying old man is a knife murderer from his own deathbed. His pregnant daughter carts away the bodies for later mutilation. The respect-inspiring patriarch is double-dealing. The girlish countess is a poisoner. The Spanish thugs are, well, thugs. A Spanish Inquisitor on holiday in Prague admits he misses breaking people’s fingers in the name of god. Whew! What a cast. What’s worse than all that however is Rudolph’s secret grand plan …[which will remain secret].
Some of this mischief stretches credibility but so be it. The plotting is – see above – complicated but all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fall into place by the end. That in itself is a wonder.
By the way, Rudolph paralleled Queen Elizabeth of England in remaining unmarried. He realised that unwed, he was a prize for matrimony. He encouraged many such prospects to keep royals, nobles, aristocrats, and other chancers catering to him and seeking his favour in the hope or marrying a daughter to him. No fool he.
This is the seventh in a continuing series of Bruno’s adventures before the Florida Inquisition got him. Years ago I read the first, Heresy (2010) which was set in Oxford at New College (where I once bunked for a conference) a long time ago. I found that the plumbing hadn’t changed since Bruno’s visit.) It was well done but the atmosphere, as in this one, was suffocating and I did not follow Bruno’s trail. In a way that means it was too well done for my feeble tastes.
We visited Prague not so long ago and we traipsed through Prague Castle, from whence all of his treasures had long since been looted or destroyed by one conquering army or another. The weather was benign during our visit and after I completed my duties at Charles University we wandered about and crossed that very same bridge a number of times. Then I read Hugh Trevor-Roper’s Princes and Artists (1976) which included but did not concentrate on Rudy, leaving me with the desire to learn more about him. Hence I started this book.
