The Unicorn Road
Martin Davies
The Unicorn Road
On the coast of southern Spain, an English father sits waiting for his son. It is many years since Benedict, then still a child, set out with the famous scholar Antioch on a mission to find and collect the mysterious beasts of the East. In all those years there has been no word, and the expedition is assumed lost. But the boy's father is not the only person asking questions on the harbourside that summer, and as he learns more about his son's companions, he comes to realise that the fate of the expedition has implications for people far richer and more powerful than himself. The Unicorn Road tells of a journey into the unknown and of the secret motives and hidden passions of those it brings together. When Benedict is befriended by the interpreter, Venn, he becomes embroiled in an exotic, dangerous adventure. It is a story of love and honour, greed and cruelty and, ultimately, about the power of words themselves. As magically evocative as an ancient silk painting, The Unicorn Road is a novel of the medieval world which vividly and tenderly illuminates our own.
3.8 out of 5 based on 3 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
Historical Fiction |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
350 |
| RRP |
£12.99 |
| Date of Publication |
January 2009 |
| ISBN |
978-0340896341 |
| Publisher |
Hodder & Stoughton |
| |
On the coast of southern Spain, an English father sits waiting for his son. It is many years since Benedict, then still a child, set out with the famous scholar Antioch on a mission to find and collect the mysterious beasts of the East. In all those years there has been no word, and the expedition is assumed lost. But the boy's father is not the only person asking questions on the harbourside that summer, and as he learns more about his son's companions, he comes to realise that the fate of the expedition has implications for people far richer and more powerful than himself. The Unicorn Road tells of a journey into the unknown and of the secret motives and hidden passions of those it brings together. When Benedict is befriended by the interpreter, Venn, he becomes embroiled in an exotic, dangerous adventure. It is a story of love and honour, greed and cruelty and, ultimately, about the power of words themselves. As magically evocative as an ancient silk painting, The Unicorn Road is a novel of the medieval world which vividly and tenderly illuminates our own.
Reviews
The Independent on Sunday
Murrough O'Brien
“The prose aims for lyricism and often hits it ("like the slow murmuring of wheat before a storm breaks"), but as often flounders. This hardly matters, though: the storytelling is masterly... Loss is stacked upon loss, and yet this novel leaves you oddly uplifted; for all the suffering the characters endure, their courage never deserts them, nor, in the end, do their hopes betray them.”
08/02/2009
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The Daily Mail
Ross Gilfillan
“Davies's writing is extremely seductive, his bustling medieval world alive with self-seekers, double-dealers and papal spies, and his highly original story one of marvels.”
09/01/2009
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The Times
Kate Saunders
“This is one of those novels rich with historical detail and that does everything in a tone of hushed solemnity (if you fear suddenly being subjected to humour, this is your ideal book)... Intricate and imaginative.”
16/01/2009
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