Fiction

摘要

With a healthy slug of history and a dash of romance, Bayard (The Black Tower; Mr. Timothy) introduces us to the world of 16th-century scientist Thomas Harriot, Sir Walter Ralegh (did you know scholars eliminated the /?), and a cadre of intellectuals called The School of Night. Henry Cavendish, a modern-day disgraced Elizabethan scholar, becomes entangled in an emotional and legal imbroglio after the apparent suicide of his friend, noted bibliophile Alonzo Wax. A document purportedly in Wax's possession may be a treasure map drafted by Harriot. Through flashback narratives, we learn more about Elizabethan England, Harriot and confreres, and The School of Night than most history classes ever cover.