Book of Love

If you haven't read The Expected One - the first in the trilogy I would suggest you do before tackling BoL. It deals with similar themes to The Davinci Code but from a female perspective and with much more controversial subject matter. When we had Kathleen McGowan at the store to read in 2007 we had to hire security as part of the deal. I'll be honest - when I went to hear her I was just there to make up the numbers but she was a fascinating speaker and on the strength of that I bought the book. Again (honesty being the best policy today) church matters make me want to run a mile but this book got under my skin and I found myself crying while reading parts of it.

So on to The Book of Love. This is really the story of two Expected Ones, Maureen Paschal who uncovered the gospel of Mary Magdalen in the first book - see told you it was controversial - is now tasked with finding the Book of Love a gospel written by Jesus himself. The other is Matilda of Tuscany, Countess of Canossa (1046-1115) warrior, strategist, architect, lover of Pope Gregory VII and a force to be reckoned with in the fight between Germany and The papacy in Rome. She is buried in St Peter's basilica in Rome - unheard of for a woman of that time but it sounds like Matilda was a woman out of her time. There are many references to the labyrinth at Chartres and I recently found out that we have at least two labyrinths of the same design right here in Utah. Might have to go and check them out. I hope the third part of McGowan's trilogy "Poet Prince" doesn't take another two years to complete although I'll be patient if it does.

Having read the book I'm going to try and get hold of 'Tuscan Countess: The Life and Extraordinary Times of Matilda of Canossa' by Michele Spike which McGowan used in her research.