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The Unicorn Road
On the coast of southern Spain, an English father sits waiting for his son. It is many years since Benedict, then still a child, set out with the famous scholar Antioch on a mission to find and collect the mysterious beasts of the East. In all those years there has been no word, and the expedition is assumed lost. But the boy's father is not the only person asking questions on the harbourside that summer, and as he learns more about his son's companions, he comes to realise that the fate of the expedition has implications for people far richer and more powerful than himself. The Unicorn Road tells of a journey into the unknown and of the secret motives and hidden passions of those it brings together. When Benedict is befriended by the interpreter, Venn, he becomes embroiled in an exotic, dangerous adventure. It is a story of love and honour, greed and cruelty and, ultimately, about the power of words themselves. As magically evocative as an ancient silk painting, The Unicorn Road is a novel of the medieval world which vividly and tenderly illuminates our own.
329 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Martin Davies
45 books91 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Martin Davies is a British author. He has written four novels about Sherlock Holmes' housekeeper and four other novels, including one about Joseph Banks and the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, entitled The Conjuror's Bird, all of which have been published.
Martin Davies grew up in North West England. All his writing is done in cafes, on buses or on tube trains, and an aversion to laptops means that he always works in longhand. He has travelled widely, including in the Middle East and India, and substantial parts of THE UNICORN ROAD were written while travelling through Sicily. He works as a consultant in the broadcasting industry.
Martin Davies is a British author. He has written four novels about Sherlock Holmes' housekeeper and four other novels, including one about Joseph Banks and the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, entitled The Conjuror's Bird, all of which have been published.
Martin Davies grew up in North West England. All his writing is done in cafes, on buses or on tube trains, and an aversion to laptops means that he always works in longhand. He has travelled widely, including in the Middle East and India, and substantial parts of THE UNICORN ROAD were written while travelling through Sicily. He works as a consultant in the broadcasting industry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 6, 2016
Os livros pedem um tempo certo para serem lidos. Não basta que estejam bem escritos, que tenham um enredo e personagens maravilhosas: se não forem lidos no tempo certo, correm o risco de serem apenas mais um, esquecido em pouco tempo. Acredito que A Linguagem Secreta das Mulheres tenha sido um desses casos para mim. Mas antes de vos explicar porquê, deixem-me falar-vos um pouco sobre o livro propriamente dito.
Estamos perante um romance histórico decorrido no Séc. XIII, que junta histórias de várias pessoas: Antioch, um sábio contratado por Manfredo da Sicília para partir em busca de um animal raro constante num bestiário, de modo a convencer o Papa a reconhecê-lo como rei da ilha; Benedito, o rapaz que acompanha Antioch; Venn, que se junta ao grupo para servir como tradutor nas terras orientais a que se dirigem; Décio, o militar experiente que também participa na expedição; e, por fim, Ming Yueh, uma jovem chinesa que ruma à cidade do Imperador chinês para se casar com um homem que mal conhece e que acaba por se cruzar com o grupo de Antioch.
É nessa viagem para Lin’an que conhecemos a “linguagem secreta das mulheres” (o Nüshu, acerca do qual já tinha lido em O Leque Secreto, de Lisa See), que teoricamente os homens não sabiam interpretar: símbolos que continham mensagens ou recados para outrém, que outra mulher se encarregava de entregar se fosse possível. Estas mensagens eram colocadas em sítios pré-definidos e desapareciam ao fim de pouco tempo, de forma a preservar o seu secretismo.
Boa parte do livro é dedicada às viagens das personagens, rumo aos seus afazeres. Gostei de conhecer um pouco mais sobre as vidas das pessoas na época e mais ainda de o autor ter fugido ao registo europeu (que eu esperaria, sendo ele inglês), proporcionando ao leitor uma visão mais oriental da História. O ritmo da narrativa é bastante lento, e tive alguns problemas com isso; ainda que a escrita me tenha parecido muito bem conseguida, descritiva mas bastante poética, não foi suficiente para agarrar o meu interesse – e foi por isso que demorei quase dois meses a terminá-lo. No terço final do livro, esta questão melhora um pouco e consegui arranjar motivação para chegar ao fim.
Volto agora ao que referi no parágrafo inicial: parece-me que teria apreciado mais este livro noutra fase, em que estivesse mais voltada para leituras com ritmo lento. De momento, estou com necessidade de livros que me agarrem, que não me deixem mesmo quando não estou na sua companhia. Este, infelizmente, não o conseguiu.
Estamos perante um romance histórico decorrido no Séc. XIII, que junta histórias de várias pessoas: Antioch, um sábio contratado por Manfredo da Sicília para partir em busca de um animal raro constante num bestiário, de modo a convencer o Papa a reconhecê-lo como rei da ilha; Benedito, o rapaz que acompanha Antioch; Venn, que se junta ao grupo para servir como tradutor nas terras orientais a que se dirigem; Décio, o militar experiente que também participa na expedição; e, por fim, Ming Yueh, uma jovem chinesa que ruma à cidade do Imperador chinês para se casar com um homem que mal conhece e que acaba por se cruzar com o grupo de Antioch.
É nessa viagem para Lin’an que conhecemos a “linguagem secreta das mulheres” (o Nüshu, acerca do qual já tinha lido em O Leque Secreto, de Lisa See), que teoricamente os homens não sabiam interpretar: símbolos que continham mensagens ou recados para outrém, que outra mulher se encarregava de entregar se fosse possível. Estas mensagens eram colocadas em sítios pré-definidos e desapareciam ao fim de pouco tempo, de forma a preservar o seu secretismo.
Boa parte do livro é dedicada às viagens das personagens, rumo aos seus afazeres. Gostei de conhecer um pouco mais sobre as vidas das pessoas na época e mais ainda de o autor ter fugido ao registo europeu (que eu esperaria, sendo ele inglês), proporcionando ao leitor uma visão mais oriental da História. O ritmo da narrativa é bastante lento, e tive alguns problemas com isso; ainda que a escrita me tenha parecido muito bem conseguida, descritiva mas bastante poética, não foi suficiente para agarrar o meu interesse – e foi por isso que demorei quase dois meses a terminá-lo. No terço final do livro, esta questão melhora um pouco e consegui arranjar motivação para chegar ao fim.
Volto agora ao que referi no parágrafo inicial: parece-me que teria apreciado mais este livro noutra fase, em que estivesse mais voltada para leituras com ritmo lento. De momento, estou com necessidade de livros que me agarrem, que não me deixem mesmo quando não estou na sua companhia. Este, infelizmente, não o conseguiu.
April 29, 2019
This book has been on my shelve for more than 10 years, from the time I was a teenager who did not know about Goodreads or Tumblr yet and bought books based on pretty covers and backcover summaries. So when my younger self read about an historical fiction based on finding a unicorn, I was instantly intrigued, only to leave it unread on my shelves after that.
Looking back on this book, I am actually glad it took me such a long time to pick up this book, because my younger self would never have appreciated this book, the character development and especially the almost poetic writing style of this book.
In this book we follow several story lines: one of a father in search of his son, one of a woman and a man who fall in love and then set out to find each other again and one of a peculiar party of Europeans looking for rare beasts of legends in the East. Progressing through the story we learn that our characters all have their own personal motives for making their travels.
I really liked the parts that were focused on the womens secret script, which was taught from mother to daughter and gave women the change to put there sorrows and grief to paper, and no man was able to decipher this script. I was surprised to see this part of the book was based on a true language that was only written by women.
Martin Davies has written great characters which felt very much alive to me. I felt for them in times of happiness and grieve and the struggles their journeys brought them. If you like (Asian) historical fiction as well, be sure to check it out.
Looking back on this book, I am actually glad it took me such a long time to pick up this book, because my younger self would never have appreciated this book, the character development and especially the almost poetic writing style of this book.
In this book we follow several story lines: one of a father in search of his son, one of a woman and a man who fall in love and then set out to find each other again and one of a peculiar party of Europeans looking for rare beasts of legends in the East. Progressing through the story we learn that our characters all have their own personal motives for making their travels.
I really liked the parts that were focused on the womens secret script, which was taught from mother to daughter and gave women the change to put there sorrows and grief to paper, and no man was able to decipher this script. I was surprised to see this part of the book was based on a true language that was only written by women.
Martin Davies has written great characters which felt very much alive to me. I felt for them in times of happiness and grieve and the struggles their journeys brought them. If you like (Asian) historical fiction as well, be sure to check it out.
November 18, 2012
Slow-moving, but beautifully written historical fiction.
April 19, 2009
After reading Martin Davies' debut novel The Conjuror's Bird I was looking forward to reading The Unicorn Road, and I was certainly not disappointed.
First Line:
To lose a small boy in a world so wide is an easy thing.
These are the words of the father as he waits for Benedict. Every trader he meets he asks for news of his son.
Throughout the novel we return to the father who is visited by various people who are also looking for his son but for their own selfish reasons. I felt so much sympathy for him all the way through and I really longed for him to be reunited with Benedict and to be proud of him. This is my favourite passage from the book as his visitor asks a question:
'Tell me, merchant,' he said. 'In all these years, you say you've had no word. Nothing to give you hope. You ask me to believe that. But why else would you remain here, waiting?'
I felt sorry for him then. Sorry, because for all the cleverness in that sharp face of his, there was something absent, something lost. Somewhere in his forty years he had forgotten how it feels to love.
'I wait here,' I told him, 'because this is all I can do.'
The first part of the story concerns the journey of Benedict and Antioch to the city of Lin'an, also travelling with them is a young woman named Ming Yueh who is meeting her betrothed, together with an assortment of others who, we gradually learn, each have their own reasons for travelling.
I loved Martin Davies' descriptive writing style - this is an excerpt as the travellers are nearing their destination:
"Lin'an, the lake city, city of poets, girdled by pleasure gardens, bejewelled with palaces, pitted with brothels; part fantasy, part mystery, part dense, steaming slum. A city that had outgrown itself, so tightly squeezed between the lake and the mountains that beyond the public squares and avenues its streets narrowed to fetid alleyways. There, dwellings jostled for space so fiercely that they leaned upon their neighbours or climbed over them, until they stood three or four storeys high, cutting all light from the passages below.
Fires were the scourge of the city, taking hold in seconds, blazing for days. But in their wake, the houses grew up thicker and faster and the city began to sweat in the heat once more."
It is when they meet the Emperor in Lin'an that we find out everyone's secrets, where men do deals and not everything is all that it seems.
The novel is set in medieval times but we never know the exact year. I was fascinated in the womens secret script, that no man could decipher, that was their own way of communicating between and within the towns. Indeed, the footnote at the end of the book mentions that the last woman to have learned this recently died so this ancient skill is now lost forever.
I felt that the character of Ming Yueh was most interesting, how her life changes so much throughout the book, and how she copes with everything with dignity and strength and how her strong will helps her survive.
Long after I'd finished the book the characters stayed with me, Martin Davies has written such compelling and fascinating personalities that I felt as if I knew them.
This is a wonderful story of love, hate, greed, kindness, cruelty, courage, religious bigotry, friendship, loss and power that I was completely absorbed in and couldn't put down.
I eagerly anticipate his next novel.
First Line:
To lose a small boy in a world so wide is an easy thing.
These are the words of the father as he waits for Benedict. Every trader he meets he asks for news of his son.
Throughout the novel we return to the father who is visited by various people who are also looking for his son but for their own selfish reasons. I felt so much sympathy for him all the way through and I really longed for him to be reunited with Benedict and to be proud of him. This is my favourite passage from the book as his visitor asks a question:
'Tell me, merchant,' he said. 'In all these years, you say you've had no word. Nothing to give you hope. You ask me to believe that. But why else would you remain here, waiting?'
I felt sorry for him then. Sorry, because for all the cleverness in that sharp face of his, there was something absent, something lost. Somewhere in his forty years he had forgotten how it feels to love.
'I wait here,' I told him, 'because this is all I can do.'
The first part of the story concerns the journey of Benedict and Antioch to the city of Lin'an, also travelling with them is a young woman named Ming Yueh who is meeting her betrothed, together with an assortment of others who, we gradually learn, each have their own reasons for travelling.
I loved Martin Davies' descriptive writing style - this is an excerpt as the travellers are nearing their destination:
"Lin'an, the lake city, city of poets, girdled by pleasure gardens, bejewelled with palaces, pitted with brothels; part fantasy, part mystery, part dense, steaming slum. A city that had outgrown itself, so tightly squeezed between the lake and the mountains that beyond the public squares and avenues its streets narrowed to fetid alleyways. There, dwellings jostled for space so fiercely that they leaned upon their neighbours or climbed over them, until they stood three or four storeys high, cutting all light from the passages below.
Fires were the scourge of the city, taking hold in seconds, blazing for days. But in their wake, the houses grew up thicker and faster and the city began to sweat in the heat once more."
It is when they meet the Emperor in Lin'an that we find out everyone's secrets, where men do deals and not everything is all that it seems.
The novel is set in medieval times but we never know the exact year. I was fascinated in the womens secret script, that no man could decipher, that was their own way of communicating between and within the towns. Indeed, the footnote at the end of the book mentions that the last woman to have learned this recently died so this ancient skill is now lost forever.
I felt that the character of Ming Yueh was most interesting, how her life changes so much throughout the book, and how she copes with everything with dignity and strength and how her strong will helps her survive.
Long after I'd finished the book the characters stayed with me, Martin Davies has written such compelling and fascinating personalities that I felt as if I knew them.
This is a wonderful story of love, hate, greed, kindness, cruelty, courage, religious bigotry, friendship, loss and power that I was completely absorbed in and couldn't put down.
I eagerly anticipate his next novel.
May 29, 2018
"É fácil perder um filho num mundo tão vasto". Esta é a primeira frase do livro, algo que nos faz pensar que de facto há situações na vida que são delicadas e frágeis. Esta frase é dita por um senhor já de alguma idade que espera pelo seu filho - Benedict - há já alguns anos. Apesar de perguntar por ele a todos os mercadores que passam por ele e mesmo assim não obter qualquer resposta, este não desiste de o esperar. E ao longo da história, o autor transporta-nos para vários momentos da vida deste homem que não desiste de descobrir alguma informação sobre Benedict. Apesar de as notícias de Benedict serem escassas, ou até mesmo inexistentes, este não está sozinho. Benedict está em viagem com Antioch em direção a Lin'an que nos revelará vários segredos até então escondidos!
Martin Davies escreve de uma forma de facto bastante cativante! A forma como este descreve a cidade de Lin'an é avassaladora! Quase a transmite como sendo uma cidade de um mundo cheio de fantasia e brilho!
A narrativa tem lugar no século XIII, em tempo medievais, onde as mulheres tinham os seus segredos e as suas próprias formas de comunicarem, o que deixava os homens sem saber o que fazer ou dizer! E é neste sentido que o título do livro se encaixa! A existência de uma linguagem, de uma forma de comunicarem que lhes era tão pessoal e característico. Mas, infelizmente, é uma forma de comunicar que acabou por se perder e que dificilmente se irá recuperar!
Apesar de grande parte da história de focar na viagem de Benedict e Antioch, as passagens sobre o pais de Benedict elevaram-na! Para além disso, este livro é muito mais do que viagens. É uma narrativa sobre amor, gratidão, coragem, amizade e muito mais! Uma obra recheada de lições de vida!
Martin Davies escreve de uma forma de facto bastante cativante! A forma como este descreve a cidade de Lin'an é avassaladora! Quase a transmite como sendo uma cidade de um mundo cheio de fantasia e brilho!
A narrativa tem lugar no século XIII, em tempo medievais, onde as mulheres tinham os seus segredos e as suas próprias formas de comunicarem, o que deixava os homens sem saber o que fazer ou dizer! E é neste sentido que o título do livro se encaixa! A existência de uma linguagem, de uma forma de comunicarem que lhes era tão pessoal e característico. Mas, infelizmente, é uma forma de comunicar que acabou por se perder e que dificilmente se irá recuperar!
Apesar de grande parte da história de focar na viagem de Benedict e Antioch, as passagens sobre o pais de Benedict elevaram-na! Para além disso, este livro é muito mais do que viagens. É uma narrativa sobre amor, gratidão, coragem, amizade e muito mais! Uma obra recheada de lições de vida!
May 10, 2020
I admit I bought this from Eastleigh Library's seconds box for 50p purely because it had a plastic wrapper I could pinch to go on one of my favourite keeper books. I found I actually enjoyed this book and was surprised. All the really cruel/violent stuff was skated over, or told third-hand, so at times we were distanced from the events. I actually found this method worked really well. However I wasn't really sold on the characters and I did want a bit more from the ending.
January 20, 2014
I didn't enjoy this as much as The Conjuror's Bird. I found it confusing with the different narratives and the endless traveling but it might be because it didn't hold my interest quite enough for me to care. The story was terribly sad but again, lack of engagement with any of the characters prevented my involvement. No more than OK.
November 15, 2015
This book just broke my heart.
August 21, 2013
Heart-breaking.
December 21, 2022
Please view my "somewhat review" at https://yienxa25.wordpress.com/2014/1...
October 25, 2016
Brilliantly written. Not an ending you would expect but it comes together non the less.
September 23, 2019
Semi-spoilers! Bit slow but moving story. Heart-breaking ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2023
My first book by Davies which I really enjoyed 😊
Davies tells us a lovely but bittersweet tale from ancient times that brings us to places where fairy tales are made.
Many characters participate to make this story 😊 The longing father, his young son (trusted to a scholar), the scholar, the feared soldier, the quiet interpreter, the smart young woman, and the decadent emperor 😊
There are many more people involved to tell the protagonists’ background and fates, and it’s astonishing that in those days information could spread around with travellers if someone was looking for it.
And again the Catholic Church troubles the world to gain wealth and leaves lots of devastation and death in its wake.
Davies tells us a lovely but bittersweet tale from ancient times that brings us to places where fairy tales are made.
Many characters participate to make this story 😊 The longing father, his young son (trusted to a scholar), the scholar, the feared soldier, the quiet interpreter, the smart young woman, and the decadent emperor 😊
There are many more people involved to tell the protagonists’ background and fates, and it’s astonishing that in those days information could spread around with travellers if someone was looking for it.
And again the Catholic Church troubles the world to gain wealth and leaves lots of devastation and death in its wake.
December 13, 2020
I didn’t expect to love this book and certainly didn’t for the first half. But then I was drawn in and all the threads of the larger story started pulling together. I ended up thoroughly enjoying it by the last third.
March 24, 2021
I liked it was a nice read.
It was a sad ending, but looked like Vann got to meet with misses again.
would like to know the rest of the story of the boy doesn't really tell you!
Feels like half a story.
Fav Character is Vann
It was a sad ending, but looked like Vann got to meet with misses again.
would like to know the rest of the story of the boy doesn't really tell you!
Feels like half a story.
Fav Character is Vann
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
February 20, 2022Unfortunately, now I do not remember what I thought of it when I read it. But my sensation is that I did not particularly enjoyed it so I am not giving it any stars since I do not remember but I wanted to say something so here it is.
January 6, 2018
This was my first Martin Davies and I enjoyed its pace and level of historical detail. A satisfying summer read.
August 2, 2018
An okay story but honestly nothing special... What did bother me is the romance between a 16-17 year old girl with a guy in his thirthies
September 8, 2021
Imaginative at times but not a very engrossing story.
November 10, 2024
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed The Conjurers Bird many moons ago, I was excited to stumble upon this book by Martin Davies.
The first thing to say is that it's not a fast-paced, action-packed, rip snorter! So if that's your bread and butter, then this book may not be for you. However, despite the slow and patient build, this book is beautifully written. It's thought-provoking, emotional and, hard to imagine for a book, contains a lot of soul. There are layers and layers of descriptive writing and is a heartbreaking tale of love.
The book follows the search of a father looking for news of his son, a young woman looking to find her place in the world, a young boys experiencing the world, and a hardened traveller with a love of language.
The clever stories interweave and overlap intricately to form a truly poignant tale. The characters are very well developed, sucking you in and getting you invested.
This is a really interesting book, and if you want a story about relationships, this will be sure to tick all your boxes
The first thing to say is that it's not a fast-paced, action-packed, rip snorter! So if that's your bread and butter, then this book may not be for you. However, despite the slow and patient build, this book is beautifully written. It's thought-provoking, emotional and, hard to imagine for a book, contains a lot of soul. There are layers and layers of descriptive writing and is a heartbreaking tale of love.
The book follows the search of a father looking for news of his son, a young woman looking to find her place in the world, a young boys experiencing the world, and a hardened traveller with a love of language.
The clever stories interweave and overlap intricately to form a truly poignant tale. The characters are very well developed, sucking you in and getting you invested.
This is a really interesting book, and if you want a story about relationships, this will be sure to tick all your boxes
Read
July 29, 2011This is very much a book of two halves. The first sets everything up, and then the second delivers payback for the time that you have invested reading the first.
The story is about an English Merchant who lost his son more than a dozen years ago. This narrative runs alongside the story of what actually happened to his son. The two are woven together very well as revelations in one directly impact on your understanding of what is happening in the other.
The story is set in the 13th Century, and features some interesting historical facts, such as the womens only written language that existed in China and indeed only died out in 2004.
The second half of the book is awesome, and I read it in a couple if hours. It did take me several weeks to get to that point though...
The story is about an English Merchant who lost his son more than a dozen years ago. This narrative runs alongside the story of what actually happened to his son. The two are woven together very well as revelations in one directly impact on your understanding of what is happening in the other.
The story is set in the 13th Century, and features some interesting historical facts, such as the womens only written language that existed in China and indeed only died out in 2004.
The second half of the book is awesome, and I read it in a couple if hours. It did take me several weeks to get to that point though...
March 27, 2016
A very good read.
Underpinned by what must have been exhaustive research into events, politics and countries of the time, this is a wholly immersive and believable tale with a few surprises. One in particular stands out - a secret language around which is woven ritual. I'll never forget the depth of emotion and illustration of the times it portrays.
Characters very good as is the story. Structure is clear, bold and excellent. Editorial is of a very high standard.
Recommended for those who want deep immersion in the very depths of history.
Underpinned by what must have been exhaustive research into events, politics and countries of the time, this is a wholly immersive and believable tale with a few surprises. One in particular stands out - a secret language around which is woven ritual. I'll never forget the depth of emotion and illustration of the times it portrays.
Characters very good as is the story. Structure is clear, bold and excellent. Editorial is of a very high standard.
Recommended for those who want deep immersion in the very depths of history.
January 4, 2016
It was nice to read this book after my trip to Andalusia. I felt roaming again in the streets of Granada, Seville and Cadiz.
After all there are still the same walls, the same streets in the old part of town, the churches mixed with the mosques, the Islamic motives on the walls....
It's a dreamy novel of the Far East, seen through the eyes of the men of the Middle Ages
After all there are still the same walls, the same streets in the old part of town, the churches mixed with the mosques, the Islamic motives on the walls....
It's a dreamy novel of the Far East, seen through the eyes of the men of the Middle Ages
August 3, 2011
Interesting historical novel about a group of scholars and soldiers who journey to Japan in search of mythical beasts. Some of the party however, have other motives relating to the overthrow of the Papacy by the great Khan.
February 24, 2016
A little slow to start but an incredibly detailed world set out in a small easy to read book, the characters are revealed slowly throughout the book which shakes off the misconceptions you have about the characters at the beginning. A sad heartfelt book about love, loss, adventure and deceit
July 28, 2016
Heartbreaking. I had forgotten about the green pouch containing the powder by the time I reached the last page. For a moment I really thought it was unicorn bone crushed into powder. Silly me. The act of Venn drinking that completely took me by surprise and had me in flood of tears.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2010
I would give this book three stars for the story, and four and a half for the writing. I just loved the language he used, and the story came together well in the end.
May 12, 2010
bit slow to get going but i'm enjoying it now.
December 28, 2010
Enjoyed this one heaps.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews