Avignon

by Marianne Calmann

Avignon in 1346 is thriving. Pope Clement VI, removed from Rome, presides over a city notable for its harmony, its tolerance and its wealth. At a time when anti-Semitic feelings are running high in Europe, Clement offers protection to the Jews. Avignon follows the fortunes of a family from the city s Jewish ghetto Blanchette, a beautiful, headstrong girl, her brilliant brother-in-law, Thoros, and her gossipy, meddling mother, Lea. And their lives are inextricably linked with those of Avignon s Christians beguiling Gui, nubile page to the Pope s favourite cardinal, Saint-Amant, the city s most notorious womanizer, and the gentle, conflicted Pope himself. Births and deaths, love and enmity, the Jews and Christians of Avignon are equally caught up in the life and tensions of the city. But old ties are tested when the Black Death arrives in Avignon and the inhabitants of this once prosperous city find themselves locked in a desperate and heart-rending battle for survival against all odds.

Genres: Historical Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2000

Reviews

[Dominic Neesam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading for reasons more connected to historical fascination than literary brilliance. The story itself is fair to middling however the strongest character is the plague. Today we would find it hard to imagine an apocalypse in a form other than nuclear war or climate change. This novel gives the reader a glimpse of that catastrophe.