With a huge, colourful cast of characters, The Quincunx by British author Charles Palliser is, like Edward Rutherfurd's London, the kind of book that comes along all too rarely--a book wherein one loses all sense of the present as one is transported back through history to another time and place. This is a novel that is at once a family saga, an adventure, and a mystery with plenty of twists and surprises. With it, Palliser has proven himself to be a master storyteller, and it has been a long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as this. In fact, I'm not sure it didn't surpass London--another historical of epic proportions that I highly recommend--as my favourite novel by a contemporary author. (I ought to mention I've yet to read Eco's The Name of the Rose).
At 781 pages, however, this historical masterpiece set in early nineteenth-century England is not for the faint of heart. At stake is a legacy--title to a huge estate of land. Though the story literally takes place during the span of several years, it is a tale about an extended family (and their relationships with one another) whose beginnings take us back five generations. Bit by bit the family history is revealed--and it is a history rife with intrigue, double dealings, scandal, and even murder. What makes the revelation of the family history so exciting and so important is its relevance to the novel's present, for not only is the identity of our young protagonist and narrator, Johnnie Mellamphy, at issue, but his very survival hangs delicately in the balance.
Those for whom this engrossing, unputdownable novel will be a special treat are those who enjoy solving word or logic puzzles (I am a puzzle buff myself). To be enjoyed to its fullest, this is a book that benefits from active participation on the part of the reader; indeed, it is (in my opinion) to a certain extent mandatory. As the story unfolds, Palliser provides the reader with both outright information and clues (some of which are quite subtle) as to who's who, what really happened, and why. Palliser enjoys teasing us, and some of his subtle clues result in our drawing the wrong (though perfectly plausible) conclusions. At other times (particularly near the end), he refuses to spell things out for us, leaving us to rifle back to previous parts for a confirmation (and perhaps even an explanation) of what happened. For those with ready access to such, Palliser would even have one delving into reference books in order to find the dates when certain events occurred (like Johnnie's birth, for example), for they are all revealed by reference to other events which occurred at or around the same time.
I might just mention: I found it very helpful to create a family tree (in pencil!) as the geneology unfolded--be it from village gossip, facts, or my own suppositions. I also set out who would inherit if certain conditions were met and identified these individuals on the tree. Very early on, I began to dog-ear important passages that I thought I may wish to refer back to (to make the rifling back process easier!). Most importantly, I found this to be the sort of book that benefits from reflection, for it is by logically following an idea through in one's mind that one can reach a number of accurate conclusions ahead of the protagonist. Don't think that this will ruin the surprises for you, for it won't. Palliser, I have no doubt, expects no less of us.
In conclusion, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this to anyone looking for an intelligent, captivating, masterfully written novel. I simply cannot praise it highly enough. It is not, however, for the individual who expects to be spoon-fed by an author. In other words, if you are looking for something one can read while putting the brain in neutral, you'd best look elsewhere. With this novel, what you get out of it is directly proportionate to what you put into it!
