The Sheen on the Silk
“The character of eunuchs was like the sheen on the silk – fluid, unpredictable. A third gender, male and female, yet neither.”
This is the disguise adopted by Anna Zarides on her arrival in Byzantium. Not easy to achieve but one which will allow her to follow her calling as a physician whilst also fulfilling an entirely different mission – to prove her brother innocent of murder.
But this is Byzantium of 1273, on the cusp of religious and political conflict. Another crusade is imminent and the onslaught of Roman Catholicism is threatening the Orthodox theology of the city.
Although it comes from the pen of Anne Perry, the acclaimed crime novelist, and is based around a mysterious death, The Sheen on the Silk is much more than a straightforward detective story. It is a complex and multilayered novel dealing with a heady mix of politics and religion. In fact there are so many strands, characters and plots within plots that it can become confusing and is best read with a clear head. That aside, it is a truly epic piece and one that totally immerses the reader in 13th-century Byzantium. Indeed the sense of time and place is so remarkable that even readers with no expert knowledge of the era will come away feeling that they have glimpsed into the past.
A remarkable achievement and well worth seeking out.
