I finished this book last night. It was time – – it was really weighing my bag down with its millions and millions of pages. My overall impression: I felt like an intruder; like this was Mosse's labour of love, and it was not deemed as a night-time-novel or train-read.
It's a twinned story, as much as the main character's home is twinned with her location, so is her life twinned with another's, 800 years earlier. It follows the double character and her involvement in a secret and ancient rite of the Grail, her lover, husband, family and friends, and how they interact through the passage of time.
The written words are not those of a book, but those of a life – a lyric of a very long, complicated and labyrinth song. Aptly named, the text takes a very long and roundabout route through a story that is at times very long. Mosse doesn't leave much to the imagination – she describes scenes in minute details from the scents in the air to the stains of over-ripe figs that mark a home. It is less of an historic account than a novel set in an historical moment and over-embellished with imagined details.
Graphic and illustrative, she tends to enjoy the violence and bloodlust of the 1200s with an uncanny zeal – a scene with a speared puppy leaves a graphic imprint on my mind – and alludes to a number of other unpleasantries which lend it an annoying but honest impression. At times I found myself skipping paragraphs ahead because I didn't care about the way the herbs smelled, or the inner-most thoughts of an inconsequential character. I often accused my students of under-developing their arguments; Mosse has the opposite effect – – she delves with delight into every character's thoughts, ambitions, histories and imaginings. She creates a complete world.
I think the reason her novel is so greatly over-inflated is because it's a 6-year project: http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/. She has a PhD, she's exceptionally well-know, exceptionally talented and very influential in literary circles, it seems. It's fascinating.
Read it, it's worth it. Besides, there's an illustrated Labyrinth Guide at the back of the book. Be prepared for annoying romance and knights in armour when you want mystery, puzzles and sleuthing. Be prepared for lengthy passages on sights, smells and senses; it's okay to skip a few paragraphs here and there if you like to fill in the blanks yourself. I think I'd like to give her short stories a go before writing her off in my own mental library, but, I doubt I'll be delving into her second novel any time soon. Part of my personal enjoyment of reading comes from my ability to create mental pictures for myself, to fill in the missing details and to add embellishments where I choose. Maybe this makes me a bad reader? To each his own.
[edit to add: I wasn't expecting a Dan Brown, despite the caption on the front. They can't be compared, Mosse exceeds him in every which way. I just expected a little less femininity and a bit more realism. Maybe that does make me a bad reader. Hmm. Food for thought.]
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