The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

★★★★

Richly imaginative literary adventure that defies categorisation

Sisters Beatrice and Taryn Cornick are avid readers and lovers of libraries, especially the library at Princes Gate, their grandparents’ debt-ridden manor house. When their grandfather James Northover dies, the house and the contents of his library are sold. Among the library’s precious items is an ancient scroll box known as ‘The Fire-starter’, known for having survived several fires in famous libraries, though no one knows for sure whether the box has been sold or if it was hidden during the war in a dry cave system on the estate. When the sisters reach adulthood, tragedy strikes and 20-year-old Taryn shuts down, suppressing all her grief and rage. Three years later, she marries a kind, wealthy man whom she does not love. On a group trip with her husband to Canada, a meeting with their master guide – a huntsman known only as ‘the Muleskinner’ – will prove both fateful and fatal.

Seven years on, Taryn is divorced and suffering from extended lapses of memory. She is promoting her first book, The Feverish Library, which started as her PhD dissertation about the history of libraries, the threats to them, the importance of what they house, and the losses of priceless books and artefacts through library fires. During her book’s publicity campaign, she receives ominous silent phone calls and loses control of her speech as if experiencing severe dissociative identity disorder, all the while being wracked with guilt and haunted by the past. Coming onto the radar of both the police and MI5 – the former for the silent phone calls and the latter because two fans of her book turn out to be cyberterrorists – Taryn accepts an invitation from the collections manager of the Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence to discuss her grandfather’s scroll box. Little does she realise that this visit will not only change her life forever but upend her entire world…

Impossible to summarise in just two paragraphs, the above text merely outlines the bare bones of the beginning of this novel, and does not even come close to conveying the broad sweep of its subsequent narrative and themes. Murder mystery, revenge thriller, quest adventure, detective story, conspiracy plot, and odyssey across supernatural worlds, The Absolute Book is a heady mix of hard-hitting modern realism and sumptuous epic fantasy. Creating an intricately complex universe of parallel worlds encompassing Christian theology, pagan mythology, ancient legends, folk tales, and science fiction, the novel takes its reader on an exciting journey through vividly evoked multiple dimensions – the contemporary modern world, the eternal realm of the fairies, even Purgatory and Hell themselves (the modern version of Purgatory is a particular highlight).

One of the main delights of The Absolute Book is the interweaving of literary references and allusions throughout, reflecting the novel’s own premise and motifs. The story is wonderfully imaginative and keeps you guessing – the twists and turns are often unexpected, startling, and enjoyably bizarre. With its roots in folklore and legend lending it depth and resonance, and as an extraordinary maelstrom of blended genres, for the most part the novel works extremely well. Taryn is a terrific heroine, and the wealth of supporting characters both human and fae are well-drawn, sympathetic, and believable in the context of the fantastical setting.

Beautifully written, expansive, erudite, and in parts intensely gripping though it is, at times, however, The Absolute Book feels almost too rich, perhaps over-stuffed, as if there is too much going on and too many wildly diverse elements to ease into a coherent whole. With the dizzying back and forth between worlds and the seemingly innumerable different plot strands, the flow of the story is occasionally interrupted and feels a little disjointed. But maybe that is the point. As the reader, we share Taryn’s frequent confusion, frustration, shock, and sometimes even fear as to what is going on, what she is witnessing, and what is happening to her. And while the story ends on what some would see as a disturbing note, it ties in effectively with the dark and unsettling nature of the universe envisioned in the book.

Jo-Anne Blanco (as Arwen Evenstar) for Elite Group

Elite Group received a copy of the book to review

©Jo-Anne Blanco 2021