La Scribe

by Antonio Garrido, Maryvonne Ssossé (Translator)

The year is 799, and King Charlemagne awaits coronation as the Holy Roman emperor. But in the town of Würzburg, the young, willful Theresa dreams only of following in the footsteps of her scholarly father—a quiet man who taught her the forbidden pleasures of reading and writing. Though it was unthinkable for a medieval woman to pursue a career as a craftsperson, headstrong Theresa convinces the parchment-makers’ guild to test her. If she passes, it means access to her beloved manuscripts and nothing less than true independence. But as she treats the skins before an audience of jeering workmen, unimaginable tragedy strikes—tearing apart Theresa’s family and setting in motion a cascade of mysteries that Theresa must solve if she hopes to stay alive and save her family.

A fugitive in the wilderness, Theresa is forced to rely on her bravery, her uncommon education, and the compassion of strangers. When she encounters Alcuin of York, a wise and influential monk with close ties to Charlemagne, she believes her luck might have finally changed. But the biggest secret lies between Charlemagne and her father. Theresa moves ever closer to the truth, bent on reuniting with her beloved father, only to discover that her family’s troubles are inextricably entwined with nothing less than the fate of an empire.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Historical, Adventure, Unfinished, Spanish Literature

640 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published May 5, 2010

About the author

Es Ingeniero Industrial y reside en Valencia, en donde trabaja como profesor del Master de Diseño de Transporte en el Centro de Formación de Postgrado de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia y profesor de la Escuela Superior de Diseño Industrial en la Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU. Es director de una empresa de consultoría de diseño de automóviles, y escribe artículos en prensa especializada. Es también profesor invitado del taller literario de novela histórica del Instituto Valenciano de Estudios Clásicos y Orientales.

De momento se ha orientado a la novela histórica.

Reviews

[Tea Jovanović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odličan španski istorijski roman, pratite ovog autora, guta se u dahu...

[Sandra Nedopričljivica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vrlo dobar povijesni roman, smješten u 8. stoljeće, s temom Konstantinove darovnice, je li istinita ili lažna i gdje se nalazi. Crkvene spletke - omiljena tema!
Ne poznajem dobro povijesne činjenice ali vjerujem Garridu (tehničaru po struci ali zaljubljeniku u povijesnu građu) da je, u 7 godina koliko je nastajao ovaj roman, sve dobro proučio i imao život i vladavinu Karla Velikog u malom prstu.

Ako bih nešto trebala zamjeriti, spomenut ću 518 stranica teksta - osobno bih to smanjila bar za petinu i ne bi se izgubio smisao knjige.

[Patrice Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scribe is the second novel I've read by the author Antonio Garrido. Because I loved The Corpse Reader so much, I thought he'd be able to bottle that thunder in a novel again. Although I didn't find The Scribe as gripping as it's predecessor, I still very much so enjoyed the title.

The Scribe takes place during year 799 and coincides with King Charlemange being crowned Emperor. Theresa, the novel's central character, wants nothing more than to follow in her father's footsteps. She has been molded from a young age to take on the esteemed profession and bear the task of recording the towns records. After training as an apprentice, she is up for testing when a terrible accident leaves her fleeing for her life. Much of the novel centers around her travels while away from home and the people she comes into contact with.

Antonio Garrido, from what I've noticed, features characters who have tremendous odds set against them but are quite talented in respects to their fields. Ci Song (from The Corpse Reader) was extremely studied in his skill of reading corpse' as Theresa is in her ability to read, write, and do all the functions necessary for the job. Theresa's biggest obstacle, besides the bad guy, is that during medieval times, there was no human resources. Women's rights was definitely not on the horizon so aside from dealing with the constant badgering of horny men, being female was enough to disqualify her. What resonates most with readers regarding both characters is that they still don't give up their hopes and we find them have a sort of coming of age in the process.

After a mugging involving Theresa and her father Gorgias in Wurzburg, an important codex is believed to be stolen. This really sets the story in motion and allows readers to realize that there is something suspicious going on. What's in this document and why's it so important? This question only lingers for a few pages when Garrido's long-windedness almost causes me to forget about it. I'm all for long books and I appreciate Garrido's attention to detail and character development, but it didn't seem important after awhile because the focus was on Theresa's new life. I felt that Gorgias was MIA for too long to remember he was missing a codex.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, Garrido gives life to his characters. There is a profound attention to detail that I love when reading historical fiction. He goes into detail about how the parchment paper of the time was made and the process. Garrido manages to make the reader feel as though they are plopped right into the medieval times. His characters are dealing with the food shortage, ergot poisoning, religious unification or persecution, and living in harmony with Carolingian laws.

Antonio Garrido is definitely climbing the list of my go-to authors. The Scribe was enjoyable and I recommend it to fans of historical fiction mysteries. I look forward to Garrido's next book.

Copy provided by AmazonCrossing

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

"La scribe" est un très bon roman d'aventure jeuneuse du temps du roi Charlemagne. Si vous cherchez un roman pour les adultes, il risque de vous décevoir énormément.

Le manque de profondeur des personnages est le seule point faible de "La scribe" qui est plein d'ambiance de l'époque carolingienne. La recette de Garrido est constituée d'éléments tirés d'Umberto Eco. Du "Nom de la rose" il y a un jeune protagoniste qui collabore avec un alter ego de Sherlock Holmes ('Guillaume de Baskerville' chez Eco et ' Alcuin de York' chez Garrido.) Du "cimetière de Prague" il y a au centre l'intrigue un document de propagande qui véhicule un mensonges grossier (les 'Protocoles des Sages de Sion' chez Eco et la 'Donatien de Constantin'.)

"La scribe" qui est bourré des informations a aussi une vocation pédagogique. Regardons deux exemples.

À la page 187, on trouve une bonne description de la structure politique d'Angleterre au huitième siècle.
"À York, Alcuin apprit que l'Angleterre était une heptarchie, composées des royaumes Saxons de Kent, Wessex, Essex et Sussex, au sud de l'île, associés aux États angles du nord : Mercie, Est-Anglie et Northumbrie."

À la page 227, on trouve une bonne description d'un palimpseste et la bonne technique pour récupérer un texte perdu: "Il n'y avait qu'une explication, et Theresa la connaissait pour avoir employé cette technique des dizaines des fois. Quand on faisait un pâte sur un parchemin, il était possible de se rattraper en grattant l'endroit abimé jusqu'à éliminer la tache. En appliquant ce traitement à toute la peau, on obtenait un parchemin qui semblait neuf, prêt à être réutilisé. Toutefois, il était moins épais et plus clair. C'était ce que les scribes appelaient un palimpseste. ... Theresa prit dans l 'âtre une poignée de cendres qu'elle étala en cercles sur la page du dessous et la frotta doucement jusqu'à obtenir une poussière grise qui se dispersa au premier souffle pour révéler le texte effacé."

"La scribe" va enseigner bien des choses au jeune lecteur. Pourtant, il risque par endroits d'agacer le lecteur qui a plus de dix-huit ans.

[Natasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully rich in detail of medieval life during a cold, hard winter. The characters were interesting, well developed, and believable. But some plot events seem unrealistic.

[tea_and_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iako slabija od njegovog romana ,,Čitač leševa”, koji je i dalje prvi na listi najboljih knjiga koje sam ikada pročitala, ali takođe fantastična!

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

It isn’t often that I choose not to finish a book that I have started - usually no more than five a year out of the nearly three hundred books that I typically read. Unfortunately, this one will be one of the 2014 reads that will go unfinished. Its initial premise though certainly sounds intriguing - set at the turn of the eighth century, Theresa is a nineteen year old woman who wants to follow in her father’s footsteps as a scribe rather than marrying. Though the book opens with plenty of action - in the first few chapters there’s a mugging, a disastrous fire, a mysterious codex and events leading Theresa to flee as a fugitive - the book simply isn’t engaging. The characters speak inauthentically - there’s slang here (perhaps the fault of the translator) and other anachronisms - like a reference to a guillotine (something that won’t be invented for a hundred years) that really makes it hard to take the other historical details as accurately researched.

Furthermore, the characters are rather stiff and are hard to connect with. Individually, these flaws could be overlooked, but combined it makes it hard to justify continuing on with this five hundred-plus page book. I began to dread picking it up, and eventually, decided that there are just too many other books in my TBR pile to justify continuing on with this one. There just isn’t anything that I could connect with here... Disappointing, to say the least.

[Amy Lignor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly a book that will pull the historian into its pages very quickly.

The year is 799, and King Charlemagne is awaiting his coronation as the Holy Roman Emperor. At the same time, in the town of Wurzburg, a girl by the name of Theresa is hard-headed and determined to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a scribe.

Theresa’s father is a very learned man and has taught his daughter how to read and write. Unfortunately, in these times, a woman’s job was to marry and raise children, not have a career. But Theresa can not be stopped. She wants to join her father’s business as a scholar no matter what she must sacrifice in the process.

Finally persuading the Guild to administer the test, she ultimately fails. Soon, Theresa becomes a fugitive; on the run she hides out in the woods with a price on her head.

Relying only on herself and her education, Theresa finds herself depending on strangers she meets along the way. One such stranger is Alcuin of York, an influential monk with close ties to the new Emperor. She believes that Alcuin can help her, as well as aiding her in becoming a scribe.

Perhaps her luck will change, especially after she discovers a secret of her father’s involving Charlemagne; a secret that could clear her name and give her the future she so wants. She is in sight of the truth; however, the parchment King Charlemagne commissioned her father to write holds a secret that could literally destroy the empire she loves.

Extremely suspenseful, this author makes the reader think long and hard about ancient, underhanded plotting by the old Empire. Not to mention, he opens up the classic debate of equality, with a young woman’s tale of attempting to gain education in a world that was made only for men. This book is a true eye-opener!

[Patricia Fawcett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Theresa, trained by her father to read, write and translate in Eighth Century Northern Europe, where most of the population was barely literate. Having fled a life of privilege during battles for religious supremacy between the Byzantine and Roman empires, Theresa and her father each eked out a living in Wurzburg; he working on sensitive documents, she making her way, against no little opposition, in a workshop, preparing vellum for writing, painstakingly learning each step of the process to perfection. Thrown into the mix are the continued political and religious machinations of the day, intolerance towards women, a number of twists and turns in a fascinating plotline and possibly the most detailed descriptions of everyday life at the onset of the reign of Charlemagne. Garrido does not stint. His depth of research is very evident. Rather than merely envisaging the various scenarios and locations about which he writes, we are transported back to the Eighth Century and feel almost embedded therein. I have read other critiques of this book, and fully understand how it is possible to get bogged down in the ambience of the period, temporarily losing sight of the plot. The detail in the writing is so intense, but this is not a criticism. Far from it. As with all great reads, you approach the conclusion with impatience, yet you hardly want the book to end. Simon Bruni's translation of Antonio Garrido's book is of a seamless and incomparable quality. Nothing is lost in translation

[Amaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining but forgetable book. Interesting enough to pass time, but not a great read.

[Italo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea, had to force myself to finish it. Slow and pull fantastic deductions without much of supporting evidence.

[La_antonnita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como la otra novela de Antonio Garrido, "El lector de cadáveres", me ha parecido una obra redonda, completa. Estoy a la espera de que salga una nueva novela...

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vienas iš geresnių istorinių detektyvų buvo šito autoriaus „The Corpse Reader“. Bet kiek ta knyga mane sužavėjo, tiek šita nuvylė. Nors irgi – istorinis detektyvas, tiesa, nebe Kinijos, o VIII-IX amžių ribos Europa.
Visų pirma – nelabai vykusi (bent jau šiuo atveju) konstrukcija. Užsimezga viena byla, susijusi su kažkokiu perrašomu pergamentu (kas ir kodėl paaiškės tik knygos pabaigoje), tuomet ta linija paliekama nuošaly ir, kadangi autoriaus valia, sekame paskui keista logika besivadovaujančią merginą, sprunkam kuo toliau, o pakeliui gaunam dar vieną tyrimą – šįsyk apie skalsių pažeistus kviečius.
Pats sumanymas nebūtų blogai, bet išpildytas šįsyk ne kažkaip. Netikėtai apversti monetą kita puse – neblogas ėjimas, bet kai imi tą monetą vartyti nuolat, tai greitai nusibosta. O ir kai kurie „paslėpti“ dalykai šviečia iš tolo kiaurai pasakojimo audinį. Todėl detektyvinė dedamoji griūva, sykiu nusinešdama viską, ką užkabina pakeliui.
Rezultate gauname detektyvu apsimetantį pseudo-istorinio ir romantinio pasakojimo kokteilį. Istorinis fonas tik lengvai nužymėtas ir nelabai atskleistas, romantinė gi pusė... irgi tokia... na, tokia. Ok, ne mano akvatorija, tai apie tuos vandenis nesiplėsiu.
Ir vis dėlto šiokią tokią intrigą ir įtampą autoriui pavyko išlaikyti. Tik todėl – trys iš penkių. Bet skysti trys.

[Tita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vejam a minha opinião em vídeo, AQUI.

[Benjamin Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très bon roman historique. Beau mélange entre la quête et le polar. Les personnages sont intéressants et attachants. l’intrigue, elle, est bien ficelée. J’ai également apprécié les subtiles touches d’humour. Cependant, il y a quelques biais genrés (qui sont difficiles à éviter dans un roman historique, je présume). Néanmoins, Je recommande la lecture!

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is considered historical fiction but it is long on fiction and short on history.

[Petar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knjiga je dobra, malo konfuznije napisana od The Corpse reader. Inače pisac za svaku preporuku.

[Stancyy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 … c'était trop long… pas convaincue par la psychologie des personnages, et à mes yeux c'est encore un homme qui sait pas écrire de personnages féminins adios

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confesso que estava à espera de mais emoção e ação nesta história passada no tempo de Carlos Magno. Confuso por vezes, metendo-se por histórias paralelas e fazendo-nos perder o fio à meada. Penso que certas coisas foram mal explicadas e as personagens pouco apelativas. No entanto, foi interessante a contextualização histórica de uma Europa a consolidar as suas fronteiras no século VIII e IX.

[Patrícia Braz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[Mélanie Théberge · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* Excellent roman historique à l'époque de Charlemagne ! J'ai eu l'impression de vivre à cette époque tout au long du roman !

[Ute · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spannend & schön zu lesen

[Mademoiselle.Auteure · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bien le bonjour les Rebels ! Aujourd'hui je vous présente l'une de mes lectures pour le #timemachinechallenge de @fruitreader et il s'agit de La Scribe de Antonio Garrido.

Note : 1,5/5

Avis : Un début extrêmement long et une intrigue peu précise. Voilà ce que j'ai retenu de ce roman.
En effet, si j'ai aimé la période abordé, sous le règne de Charlemagne, ainsi que les us, coutumes et risques de l'époque, je ne retiens pas beaucoup de positif de cette lecture.
L'héroïne, que j'ai d'abord trouvé instruite et intéressante, se retrouve à avoir des réactions pas du tout en adéquation avec l'intelligence dont elle est sensée être pourvue. C'est un point important.
Certains personnages secondaires m'ont plu, mais pour la plupart, qu'ils meurent ou non ça m'était égal.
Le problème de ce roman, c'est que l'auteur prend l'histoire de trop loin, ne s'implique pas suffisamment dans la vie de ses personnages, et par la même occasion, moi non plus.
Qui plus est, j'étais déconcertée, mal à l'aise pendant ma lecture, à cause de certains personnages et du style d'écriture.
Une lecture vraiment mitigée donc...

[Lexi · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Originally written for Book Bliss book blog. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review**

Review: 2 stars
General: I love historicals, they may be my favorite genre out there. I was extremely interested in this because I enjoy finding time periods I studied that aren't written about much. The history and the world building in this book were extensive. It was entertaining on that level because I could really feel the authenticity of the made up story. However, the plot was inconsistent for me. It opened with a bang and then fizzeled out and quickly became very dull. Another issue was the editing. This is a translation so I will not lay this issue on the author but rather whoever published and chose the translator. There were far to many issues and I understand sometimes things can be confusing in translation but these were errors, not points of confusion. For me, without the amazing world building this story lacked the elements needed to draw me in.

[mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were passages of this book that were very good. The book (even the ending) felt disjointed almost as if someone else wrote it. The premise or theme of this seemed to be very interesting but the plodding narrative overwhelmed the sparkling pieces. I believe it is the translation though I have nothing to base it on except that i want to give the writer the benefit of the doubt.
I read The Corpse Reader and liked it. It did not read like this book at all. So just beware if you read it that it very unevenly written.

[Tony Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this second novel by Garrido. Good translation too. While there are a couple of patches that were a little tortured, these flew past. Great lead character - a strong clever woman.

Fascinating story, with a basis in history, although of course a purely fictional tale. Fast moving and with interesting insights into the age. A little romance and action round off a good bit of story telling. I would give 4 1/2 stars if that was possible....

Well worth reading.

[Noelle DeLeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

I enjoyed this book very much. It had many twists and turns to keep me intrigued. I thoroughly enjoy historical fiction and this book kept me coming back for more. I would recommend this book to young adults to age 99. I enjoyed the Latin phrases throughout the book. I gave it only four stars because at times you had to read closely as not to get lost.

[Mónica Barriendo · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro es muy ameno, fácil de leer, bien documentado y sobre todo, y como dice el autor al final que es lo importante, muy entretenido.
Si bien es cierto, que el carácter de los personajes y sus acciones, están más reflejados en el mundo actual que en el medieval, parece que ha sido un acto deliberado del autor para que podamos empatizar más con ellos.
En general, una buena lectura.

[Anita Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect historical fiction. I loved it. The characters were interesting, the story line was intense, there was a hint of love story in this as well. Everything in one spot, for his first novel, he did a great job!

[Jose María · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genial esta novela histórica con ingredientes de todo tipo muy bien entremezclados.
Totalmente recomendable