“Remarkable. . . . Hugely entertaining. . . . This is a tale that engages the reader from the get-go.” —Los Angeles Times
“Brilliantly realized. . . . Ambitious, meticulously researched.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Cinematic, thriller-like. . . . Lends suspense right up to the final pages.” —The Washington Post
“Unsworth sets out plots and the plots that undermine them with a rare join of head-splitting intricacy, taut suspense, and surreal images of foreboding.” —The Boston Globe
“An exotic tale of love, intrigue, betrayal and revenge. . . . Unsworth writes beautifully.” —The Seattle Times
“Unsworth succeed[s] triumphantly.” —The Guardian (London)
“Part entertainment and part meditation on human venality, drawing moral anxiety and unwitting treachery out of 12th-century Sicily’s turbulent inter-racial mistrust. . . . reinvigorates Unsworth’s potent themes of violent domination, greed and prejudice straining at the fabric of society.” —Financial Times
“The work of a novelist at the height of his powers. . . . Delicately intricate in its construction and psychology, morally resonant and hugely satisfying.” —The Observer (London)
“Sparkles with apercus that seems familiar, a clash of religious identity that we quickly recognise and a lingering reflection on values, culture and historical roots that is at the heart of debate today. . . . Unsworth skillfully depicts the loyalties, religiosity and ideologies of a brittle age. . . . As vivid as The Name of the Rose and as accurate in the minutiae.” —The Times (London)
“This subtle and gripping historical novel is a triumph from a master of the form: from faith to food, dancing to mosaics, his Sicily shines and sizzles.” —The Independent (London)
“[A] beautifully constructed historical romance. . . . [Unsworth’s] themes are universal, and their historical setting subtly enhances our understanding of them.” —The Spectator (London)
“A very fine novel that twists and turns to reach a compelling climax.” —The Scotsman
“Heartrending. . . . Unsworth’s subtle prose conjures up an authentically realized medieval world . . . . Can be read either as an exceptional historical novel or a modern parable on the dangers of blind patriotism.” —Booklist
“A richly imagined novel of the Middle Ages, filled with questions of race, God and fidelity. . . . Unsworth’s luscious history is ripe territory for a dialogue on the ever-present struggle against intolerance, a seemingly inevitable human frailty.” —Kirkus Reviews
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