Great character development. Strong female characters. Loved this book.

*Love*
At its simplest, this book is a modern take on courtley love. We have a knight (albeit dispossessed by his father's retreat into Cistercian holy orders), we have a fair maid, and we have chivalric idealism. Our hero is Thurstan Beauchamp, who comes from Norman-Saxon stock. Until his mid-teens he had been tutored to become a knight in the King's service. Along the way, Thurstan has cultivated a view of Sicily's monarch Roger II as a silver swan floating in serene divine right on the still waters above his people. Love and fidelity are Thurstan's ideals, as he sets to determine the course of his life among the gilded classes.

The story is set in 1149, immediately after the failure of the Second Crusade, with our protagonist modelling the single-minded idealistic devotion to pure love, king and God that had started to emerge in ernest in Medieval fiction at the time this book is set (mid-twelfth-century). Richard Hastings has written a very good book on the ubiquity of chivalric romantic fiction from the late eleventh to the early modern era. The trope had become sufficiently entrenched by the 1600-1610s for Cervantes to lampoon in his genre-busting volumes of 'Don Quixote'. These originators of the genre in the twelfth-century typically saw love from the elevated perspective of the noble waterline, which Unsworth (pace Cervantes) seeks to overturn by plumbing the shark-infested depths beneath where mortals - including knights - might actually be found...


*Religion and Politics*
Of course Unsworth was never going to deliver this as a straight-up throw-back. Our would-be knight, Thurstan, of necessity find himself working in the palace bureaucracy, in a multicultural and interfaith unit where Christians and Muslims work side-by-side. The Sicily of 1149 brings all the complexity of coexistence that directly challenges the supremacy of any one creed. Thurstan as master of revels, himself revels in this heterodoxy, yet as the realpolitik of post-Crusade civic life increases the pressure, it becomes ever harder to square the personal persuit of innocent and faithful love, with the demands being placed on citizens by competing interests.

To quote Montesquieu, 'religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance'. Unsworth chronicles the wellspring of this intolerance through personal bias (e.g. Thurstan's view of the dancers), political motive, and religious fundamentalism. Of the three, the last is perhaps least evident, as tragedy follows largely from the capricious randomness of cultural misunderstanding or the manipulative machinations of Thurstan's mercenary fellows.

In this respect we are following closely in the footsteps of two of Unsworth's best books. Like 1980's 'Pascali's Island', we follow a flawed character in an Empire backwater who is paid to fulfil the obscure administrative whims of an overlord. Then there was 1982's 'Rage of the Vulture', where a kingly figure spies on his cosmopolitan subjects from an upstairs window, as the foundations of empire shake beneath him. We revisit both plotlines in a new cultural and interfaith dynastic context, just 750 years earlier and in a country further west in the Mediterranean.

*How good?*
Unsworth again writes a meticulously researched account of a lesser-known part of European history, taking the reader to a sphere outside the main action of the crusades or main courts. The primary theatres for war were previously in Damascus, with the stench of unnecessary death haunting these pages in a way that tacitly references WWI war poetry and perhaps the more immediate politics of western incursion into Iraq in the mid-2000s. We get enough of the wider geopolitics to make sense of the stakes, including the ongoing threat to King Roger II's rule, and hopes for a Serbian uprising that were then in forment. More subtly, Unsworth is a craftsman when it comes to setting a scene, whether in the slash-sleeved fashions of courtly dress in the mid-12thC; the technologies of war including use of daggers and crossbows; or the prevalence of sanitary and washing facilities by status. Every line brings the era to life.

Back to the story, however, and I was slightly less impressed with the more obvious treatment of the two paths open to Thurstan. We get the wooing of a western lady of honour on one hand, and the temptations of the eastern dancing lady on the other. Unsworth complicates the story in ways revealing to character and self-belief, but I ended up feeling the simplistic fork-in-the-road of the romantic story didn't match up to the ornate sense of period drama. It was like a grand gold-fluted carriage being driven by a 1.2l Vauxhall Corsa engine. The story of religion and politics depends in part on Thurston's reconciliation of conflicted loyalties, but the simple binaries between West/ East, head/ heart, duty/defiance took away from the book's greater subtleties. I still identified with Thurstan's behaviours and desire to maintain a unified sense of self, but the conclusion putters to a halt rather abruptly, and with a sense of predestination, after so much veiled build up.

Was Unsworth tied to the form of the (longer) courtly romance, which dictated a decision to focus on Thurstan? If so, I wish he had opted for a twist in the tale that has so often before made Unsworth's books so satisfying. I enjoyed the ride and the historical scenery was delightful, but this one lacked the narrative thrust of his more powerful books.

There are books that aren't good, but because of their well written ending we end up liking them (Life of Pi for one). The Ruby in Her Navel isn't one of those books. The ending, while trying desperately to be profound - wasn't. The biggest chunk of the story was compressed and rushed at the end as a well written yet garbled mess, while the primary 2/3 of the book was littered with loooong descriptions of clothes, tedious thoughts of the hero and insipid conversations.

In the middle of the book I was plain bored. It droned on and on about some emotions and experiences I didn't care about in the slightest. And then I came to hate the hero.
I think it was author's intention for the reader to hate the hero, but no, I didn't hate him, I loathed him. I wished he would commit suicide and the book would end.

The hero didn't commit suicide, instead the author decided that after 300 pages of monotonous boredom he should stuff and squeeze in 70% of the story still untold.

Even though the author only recently passed away, his language is that of the classics. After reading "modern" language for many years, it was nice to read in a language we all know very well, but never use.

Still, the book is crippled and the hero is unlovable. He's angry, educated, but very stupid, selfish, empty, pompous and naive. (SPOILER AHEAD) He didn't deserve the good fate he got in the end. He should have died in some ditch, unknown and unwanted. But the author took a poetic route, which was incongruent to the universe he'd created.

1,5 stars

An historical novel set in 12th century Sicily in which, on the surface all is peaceful. As we get into the book, we learn that the Normans have recently taken control of the island and set King Roger on the throne; The Muslims have been displaced after centuries of rule but still have power and influence; the Greek Orthodox are being pushed out and replace by Roman Catholics.

Our hero, Thurstan, is a Norman who lost his inheritance and dream of knighthood after his father, on loosing wife, baby, and a major battle, left the world and became a Cistercian monk on the island. Thurstan, having been educated, serves in one of the kings councils. On a trip to the mainland, he meets Nesrin, a Turkish dancer, and is enchanted. He also meets his long, lost friend Lady Alicia who has been recently widowed. His head and heart are divided

We continue to discover as the story develops that nothing is as it seems on the surface. Thurstan tries to lead the moral and Christian life and is rewarded at the end.

I enjoyed this a great deal. It was an experience, not just a story and a telling, but all of that and more - a world, a mindset, an exploration - and deeply satisfying all up.

The first thing that grabbed me was the strength of the first-person narrator. There's a deep and stark and involved style to his voice that helps seat the book in its time and place (more about this later) but also establishes the novel firmly as Thurstan-telling-his-story. I have endless impatience with books that a first-person without a reason - i.e. why and how is this person telling me their story? - but this one does it flat out with what appears to be bald-faced honesty, that later gains a layer of knowing extra meaning (which I love).

And through the telling, the reader comes to understand intrinsically - so much more deeply than merely being told - some aspects of the 12th-century Mediterranean that underpin the book: that abstract thought is underdeveloped, and the concept of visualising and imagining one close to magic; that this is a world in which simplicity and complexity war, or at least overlap; and that while it could be said that the Dark Ages are ending, there has never been such hate as is now welling up.

Amidst all of this, I found the entwined stories of political intrigue and Thurstan's emotional getting-of-wisdom to be deeply satisfying, in that way I like best where things reveal to have been just what I thought, but even more so and with added twists I had not seen coming. And while I had some slight distresses about the way Alicia was depicted at the end of the day, Nesrin was pretty magnificent.

A very interesting and well-developed central character and plot line set in a time and place that I knew very little about -- I will be reading more by this author.

I hoped to get a strong flavour of historic Sicily and that hope wasn't quite fulfilled. Having said that, the main character Thurstand Beauchamp, was interesting as was his world in the court of Roger. There was just something about the style of the writing that left me cold. I wasn't completely engaged by the story.

I enjoy historical novels full of drama, romance, mystery and intrigue as much as the next person and Unsworth has provided just that. However, Thurstan Beauchamp is not the most politically savvy of lead characters and is easily led astray by a pretty face. Unsworth created a set of realistic and diverse characters in this novel and they all play their parts well. The setting and period are described and I found it easy to imagine the scenes and locations. At times I didn't always follow the logic behind the plot but I think this was more a failing on my part than on the novels (making me no better than Thurstan at understanding the political machinations). Otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable novel.

This novel is set in Italy in 1149. Thurstan Beauchamp had been raised to be a knight, only to have his life plans crushed when his father became a monk and gave their lands and wealth to the Church. He was taken up by Yusef Ibn Mannsur, an Muslim who was the Lord of the Diwan of Control at the royal palace in Palermo and Thurstan became his assistant. The office paid all palace bills and arranged a thousand things from day to day. Thurstan might one day be taking money to a vendor in another city and the next arranging jugglers to entertain the king.

He is sent on a trip to herons for the king's falcons to hunt. While there, he is astonished to see riding a woman who had been his childhood sweetheart, Alicia. He had been heartbroken when she was sent at fourteen to Jerusalem to marry a noble there. They speak and the spark is still there. Soon all that Thurstan can think of is Alicia and how to win her love again.

In the meantime, his work had led him to hire a dance troupe. They were a sensation as it was the first instance of belly dancing that had been seen at the palace. The main dancer was Nesrin, a beautiful woman who danced with a ruby in her navel. Thurstan is attracted to her but sworn to attain Alicia, who can give him wealth and his dream of being a knight.

This is the time of the Crusades and there is much political maneuvering between the two factions, Christian and Muslim. Thurstan is caught between the two as his mentor is Muslim yet his upbringing is Christian. One of his jobs is to take money to another town to hire an assassin; Thurstan has no idea who is to be killed but it is part of his work to take money to others for purposes he doesn't understand. All of these factors lead to a stunning climax where Thurstan finally grows up and chooses his life path.

This book was nominated for a Booker Prize. Unsworth is an author who had multiple Booker nominees and a winner in 1992. This book is a novel of multiple cultures, of political intrigue and betrayals and of love in a medieval setting. Thurstan as a young man has much growing up to do to become an adult and the reader will follow him on this path. This book is recommended for readers of literary and historical fiction.

Well put together although I had trouble with the florid language.

Unsworth not quite at the top of his form with this one, but the setting was fascinating to me: the Norman kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century under Roger II. Under Roger's rule Greek and Latin Christians, Jews and Muslims all live in harmony.

The protagonist, Thurstan, son of a landless Norman knight and a Saxon mother works in the Diwan of Control--the finance office, but some call it the Diwan of Secrets. His superior is a Muslim, Yusuf. Thurstan is the Purveyor of Spectacles [obtains entertainment for the king] and also on Yusuf's orders will carry money for payment for information from one place to another. On one journey from Palermo to Calabria, Thurstan finds a marvellous troupe of belly dancers and musicians he sends back to dance for the king. One dancer, Nesrin, catches his eye. When a boy, Thurstan had been fostered by another noble family to prepare for knighthood. In Calabria, he and his childhood sweetheart meet each other after years. Meddling Latin clergy and Frankish nobility enter the kingdom and try to upset the balance by influencing the king to suppress the minorities. There is much treachery, spying, and deceit. Suffice it to say, things are not as straightforward as they seem . The story was boring for long stretches. The climax was certainly a surprise to me!

It was very well written and we got a feel for the opulence of the royal court, the nobility, and the palaces. Thurstan was naive, but certainly engaging. Yusuf was the perfect mentor.

This book is better than its title. Other readers found fault with the narrator, and I can't really argue with them, but I loved the setting -- 11th century Norman Sicily, during a brief moment when people of different religions and languages lived and worked together under Roger II. As a destination for historical fiction, this is less well-traveled than, say, the court of Henry VIII, so it was interesting for that alone. However, I felt Unsworth really squandered an opportunity in terms of plot -- about two-thirds through, the narrator betrays his patron and mentor for self-interested reasons. He regrets his action almost immediately, but terrible things result nonetheless. This is great, because it seems like a tragic, natural outgrowth of what we have seen of his character, but by the end of the novel, everything is neatly tied up, and the consequences of his decision mainly consist of his being richer and freed up to go off with his new love.

Seriously, just a terrible title, though.