History is a novel that has been lived, a novel is a history that could have been (E&J Goncourt, taken from the book)
The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse constructs those myraid shades of history that is hidden, sometimes that which is built and sometimes that which is forgotten - history : eight hundred years before- France almost in its birth pangs, a palce where art thrives and secrects are unspoken of, but the traces remain invisible and memories try to haunt. Alice the protagonist of the novel suffers from memories, images, sounds, intuition, she does not identify with, her own past, back eight hundred years old comes staggering back to her;people around her seem medieval and there seems to be a quest- a search for something - search for Grail!
Set in medieval France amidst the testing times of crusades, connecting it to the present, history comes alive. Carcasonne, Sabarthes mountains, Chartres resurrect the CATHARS- probably the guardians of the Holy Grail- guardians of the three books, which when united would reveal incantations that would bring Grail, giving the elixir of life.The obscure history behind the crusades generates curiosity- burning of heretics, conversions, politics of money and power become common sight- something survived - "Memories" to retell the gory past. Mosse establishes the intrinsic secrecy of Knights, Gnostics and Cathars being in conference with Arab scholars- The portrayal of Character "Harif" is the best example.
The other characters lose track of time, even living since six hundred years. The novel seems to be linear, with past and present oscillating back and forth like a pendulum, symbolically representing Time, travelling like mirage.Kate Mosse’s The Labyrinth is another in line with books on Grail, capturing the rich medieval life and times, steeped in mysteries.The title is also significant - for it is that small labyrinth which they find leads them to the discovery of things hidden.
Its another treat for Grail- story lovers.