The Book of Kells: Unlocking the Enigma

by Victoria Whitworth

The Book of Kells is a mystery. It is distinct from all copies of the gospels from the early Middle Ages, not only in the quality and amount of its decoration but also in the peculiarities of the ordering of its contents, the oddness of its apparatus, the appearance of the script, the interplay of text and ornament, and the erratic forms of its Latin. Scholars cannot agree on the number of scribes and artists involved; or establish the purpose of the Book; or decide whether its oddities are the result of incompetence or carelessness, and how those oddities relate to the minutely careful and deeply meaningful art.

The Book of Kells is probably the most famous manuscript in the world – and Victoria Whitworth's masterly treatment offers something new.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2025

About the author

Victoria Whitworth is a historian and bestselling author of The Bone Thief and The Traitors' Pit. Having worked as a lecturer, tour guide, artist's model and teacher, she now lives on a smallholding in Orkney, where she writes full time.

She also wrote as V.M. Whitworth and Victoria Thompson.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very compelled at times! Ultimately, the book is a bit click-baity - it was promoted as making an argument for a Pictish origin for the manuscript, thereby “unlocking” the Book of Kells. That argument was made… quickly, and then the rest of the book was just a walkthrough of the manuscript, with brief, occasional references to Pictish sculpture. The conclusion was also that we simply may never know.

For a topic that has been written about so thoroughly, I expected more citations throughout, and less reliance on the work of one other scholar. Whitworth writes with an engaged, familiar tone, but this ended up feeling like too casual of an evaluation of the manuscript when the main argument is actually a huge claim to make, given that we have no extant Pictish manuscripts and the Book of Kells is so deeply entangled with Irish nationalism. I would also loved to have seen more of a discussion of the visual crossover between Ireland and Pictland at the time.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some lovely images from the books referenced in this 'The Book of Kells'. It is a reference book describing the contrast between the titular book and others of it's age. It interesting enough, but really short, which surprised me.

I read it in brief stints which meant that my interest didn't wane, as it tends to with descriptive, comparative texts.

I really only read it because I like the illuminated manuscripts created so many years ago in such painstakingly detail, with such devotion and dedication. I maybe wouldn't have bothered if I'd known quite how short and really for a person like me, not much use, it was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Apollo for approving me to read this book

[Jenny Blacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

(based on a sample chapter)

This is quite a hefty book, bordering on academic. With that in mind it promises to be a comprehensive and informative book, packed with analysis and explanation as well as sections of the book to illustrate.

I only dropped the one star due to the heft.

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.