Tea at Trianon: Unrest in Eden

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 10, 2012

Unrest in Eden

Unrest in Eden is the fourth novel in a series about the adventures of Father Ignaz Pfefferkorn, a character based upon a real life eighteenth century Jesuit missionary, musician and scholar, who in Weinburg’s stories is a sleuth as well. Forced to leave his beloved mission in Mexico, Father Ignaz survives both the disbanding of his Order as well as imprisonment and torture in a Spanish prison. Released through the intervention of the Austrian Imperial family, Father Ignaz begins the long trek across Europe to his hometown in Germany where he has long dreamed of being reunited with his sister Isabella. In spite of his precarious health and near starvation, he is able to complete his journey, thanks to the kindness of such persons as Eveline the innkeeper in Strasbourg. While the priest is overjoyed to find his sister and her family thriving and happy to see him, he soon discovers that the village he has idealized is torn with strife. In an effort to save another priest who has been unjustly accused, Father Ignaz takes up a hunt for a murderer, putting his own life and reputation at risk. Combining the elements of a thriller and a mystery, Unrest in Eden is an outstanding work of historical fiction for the flawless research as reflected in the detailed authenticity of the settings and descriptions. As Father Ignaz struggles with those who oppose him, he also struggles with himself as a man, who often finds the loneliness of his calling a heavy cross. My only complaint about the book is that at the end Father Ignaz acts in a way that is completely out of character, going against everything he has believed in and suffered for, which weakened the integrity of the novel for me. Nevertheless, it is a book to be enjoyed by anyone who relishes well-written historical novels.

This review originally appeared in the February 2012 edition of the Historical Novels Review.

(*NOTE: This book was sent to me by the Historical Novel Society in exchange for my honest opinion.)