Three Fires
This short, vibrant novella from acclaimed Scottish author Denise Mina immerses the reader in the life of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican priest. In late 15th-century Florence, Savonarola was the force behind the Bonfire of Vanities—the mass burning of art, books and other materials considered by Savonarola to be part of the corruption of society, led by the Catholic Church, and dooming the people to poverty and starvation.
In unapologetically modern language, Mina brings Savonarola, a populist prophet, to vivid life. Episodes in his early years—disappointment in love and witnessing savage civil unrest and violence—have their impact on the man he becomes. Clever but awkward, angry, and driven by a belief that he has heard God’s voice, Savonarola becomes a figure able to tap into the people of Florence’s fears and hatreds. “It’s one of his new oratorical tricks,” Mina writes, “he couples beguiling insights with an unrelated call to action: taxes are unfair, exile the Jews. Politicians hoard power, attack the gays. Income differentials are widening, women should obey.” His followers are known as the Snivellers, a name they adopt and use, “with pride, like the Deplorables.”
There is no mincing of words here. Mina sees clear parallels between yesterday’s horrors and today’s challenges. Nor does she find comfort in Savonarola’s execution. He was a man who wrote extensively—he is often credited as a source of inspiration to Martin Luther, for example—and for good and for bad, Savonarola’s influence is with us now. Powerful stuff.
