Glen recently contacted me to ask me to review his newest novel The Virgin of the Wind Rose and I have to admit I was highly intrigued by the subject matter. The real identity of Christopher Columbus? It’s definitely a line which draws you in.
The storyline is a bit hard to grasp at first due to there being many different puzzle pieces fitting together and being narrated seperately.
Jaq is a rookie state department lawyer enjoying her life and embracing her religion, when she suddenly receives devastating news which leads her to the male dominated lands of Ethiopia to investigate a murder.
Here she teams up with the mysterious antiquities thief Elymas to find the one relic which will rebuild Solomon’s Temple.
Meanwhile many centuries before, a parallel story runs in Portugal. A young boy named Pero gets involved in the oldest secret societies; Portugal’s Order of Christ. Keen to begin exploring the seas Pero gets involved with the reclusive Prince Henry the Navigator.
The story flits back and forth between past and present as the ‘real’ identity of Christopher Columbus is finally revealed. The reader soon starts to realise that there is a connection between the real CC and the modern day second coming of the Messiah.
The writing is heavily detailed, it’s engaging but not an easy read. At time the detail feels a little too much, but there is so much history and build up entwined in there that it’s definitely worth it.
The writer is correct in saying that this is a story for lovers of Dan Brown or anybody who loves the history of religion.
Tiny Book Reviews 