The Map of Bones (The Joubert Family Chronicles)
This is the final book in Kate Mosse’s four-book series The Joubert Family Chronicles, following the fate of a wealthy French Huguenot family from the religious wars of 16th-century France, through to the Huguenot settlement in South Africa in the 16th century and into 19th-century England. This, along with Mosse’s other books, is a greatly acclaimed work. While I agree with all this, I still have problems with it.
The plot is often too fantastical and rests heavily on coincidences. More importantly, the protagonists’ motives are difficult to appreciate. In The Map of Bones both the main female characters, the one in the 16th century and her distant cousin in the 19th century, make the long and perilous voyage from Europe to Cape Town and beyond, simply to explore their family history and find a missing diary. Both come close to being murdered, and a lot of violence ensues. The heroines are partly driven by the need to display their ancestors as powerful women and an inspiration to the rest of womankind. They are also firmly against discrimination by gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation and are careful to respect indigenous cultures; not what you would expect of the 16th century or even mid-19th centuries.
This is not to say you won’t enjoy the book, if only because of its beautiful descriptions of Cape Town and Cape Winelands in the early days of settlement and the struggles to set up the Dutch Colony and integrate Huguenot refugees. Probably the best of the series.
