Set in 14th century England, Karen Maitland's Company of Liars steals a page from the travel genre in literature made famous by Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, where seemingly random forces bring together extraordinary strangers with fanciful tales to tell. Where Maitland's novel deviates from the classic is in the characters' reasons for being on the road; the ties that bind the group are the lies that they tell, and with each subsequent tragedy, the characters are forced to reveal themselves. In doing so, the truth behind their journey becomes clear. Lurking in the background is the devastation wrought by what would eventually be known as the Black Plague. England is awash in turmoil, undone by a gruesome and painful disease, and escaping the deadly "pestilence" provides each character with a convenient excuse to flee from home. Until, of course, home becomes the conflict within them.
The band of pilgrims—Zophiel, the cynical magician; Jofre, the beautiful boy with the voice of an angel; Rodrigo, Jofre's master and protector; Narigorm, the seer, and her companion, Pleasance; pregnant Adela and her husband, Osmond; and Cygnus, the swan-man—is led by an ambiguous narrator named Camelot, who is smart, resourceful, and frighteningly precise in his observations of those around him. He serves as the obligatory pragmatist, the wisdom that comes with having experienced more misery than one human being ought. Unlike the others, though, he has spent an inordinate amount of time moving from town to town, but he, like the rest, is simultaneously running from his past and towards its inevitable reemergence. Through Camelot's eyes, the characters' life stories unfold into desperate lies, reluctant truths, and fruitless admissions of guilt.
Company of Liars is a smart read, rich with medieval history, social mores, and the religious dogma that undermines an entire country in exchange for immunity. Throughout her tome, Maitland deftly illuminates the Catholic Church's hypocrisy as the ruling institution during Plague-era England, peppering the novel with poignant commentary on the clergy's abandonment of its flock: "You'll be lucky to find a priest anywhere in these parts…. This time last year you couldn't piss without the blessing of a priest; now any Tom, Dick, or Harry, even a woman, can baptise you, marry you, shrive you, and bury you. Makes you wonder why we've been paying all those scots and tithes to the priests all these years, doesn't it?" That this question, representative of religion itself, has weaved its way through each character's story, makes Company of Liars a worthwhile adventure.
--Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com
Read the opening chapters of Company of Liars here.
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1 comment:
I had not heard of this book, and I read and know about many titles of historical fiction set in the medieval period. Thanks. Another one to add to my list.
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