Sepulchre

Oops...I should have put this one before Nadi Amura..I forgot all about reading it, it's been so long...

The book is by Kate Mosse, the same author as Labyrinth, a book I also read in the last year or two (check old posts). Here's a synopsis I copied off the author's website :

"In 1891, young Léonie Vernier and her brother Anatole arrive in the beautiful town of Rennes-les-Bains, in southwest France. They’ve come at the invitation of their widowed aunt, whose mountain estate, Domain de la Cade, is famous in the region. But it soon becomes clear that their aunt Isolde—and the Domain—are not what Léonie had imagined. The villagers claim that Isolde’s late husband died after summoning a demon from the old Visigoth sepulchre high on the mountainside. A book from the Domain’s cavernous library describes the strange tarot pack that mysteriously disappeared following the uncle’s death. But while Léonie delves deeper into the ancient mysteries of the Domain, a different evil stalks her family—one which may explain why Léonie and Anatole were invited to the sinister Domain in the first place.

More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennes-les-Bains, Meredith checks into a grand old hotel—the Domain de la Cade. Something about the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin to haunt Meredith’s waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by Léonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American’s fate . . . just as they did to the fate of Léonie Vernier more than a century earlier."

I loved this book. I think it was amazingly written. A mix of history, fiction and a touch of horror. I imagine it would make a really good movie. Kate Mosse mentioned in her website that it's the second in her Languedoc Trilogy, a sequence of three novels set in - and inspired by - the landscape and history of the south of France. So there'll be another book by her that I'm anticipating..hopefully to come in the near future.

The Pillars of The Earth

Author : Ken Follet

Pages : 1000+

Synopsis

In a time of civil war, famine and religious strife, there rises a magnificent Cathedral in Kingsbridge. Against this backdrop, lives entwine: Tom, the master builder, Aliena, the noblewoman, Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge, Jack, the artist in stone and Ellen, the woman from the forest who casts a curse. At once, this is a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age.

My Thoughts

In my opinion, this book started out quite flat. Only when we get to the second part does it get interesting..then you can't put it down as there are multiple cases and happenings that intertwine into one as you get to the end. It's a masterpiece just like Oprah said (that's how I learned about this book, from Oprah)..for those of you history lovers, it's a must read..but don't worry, it's not all history..it's actually a love story really..enjoy!

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Title : A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author : Khaled Hosseini



Synopsis :
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

My Thoughts :
Compared to his first novel, "The Kite Runner", this one didn't really hit me as strongly. It was good, but too sad and frustrating for me. I got frustrated at the way things were in Afghanistan in those days and how the people suffered so much. Anyway, I wouldn't read it over again, even though it was really good.

The Kite Runner

Title : The Kite Runner

Author : Khaled Hosseini

Pages : 400

Synopsis:

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

My Thoughts:

I recently finished reading this book and found that it's really good. Quite a tragic story, it's a novel about friendship, betrayal and the price of loyalty. It's also a story about history that's never been told in fiction before. A lot of stuff about karma in it at the end..it's really worth getting if you haven't already read it..

Labyrinth

Title : Labyrinth
Author : Kate Mosse
Paperback: 528 pages

Synopsis:

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag. Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe. In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

My Thoughts:

My sister recommended this book to me and she said it's far more interesting & exciting than the Da Vinci Code. I accepted the book eagerly, so curious about how it can be better than DVC. A historical & religious fiction, I found it hard to put down. In the search for the Holy Grail, it is a fascinating story and I liked the way Kate Mosse wrote it.