The Flowers of Evil by Simon Acland

“Why are the disciples always more fanatical than those that they follow? Why does their belief have to be more certain than their teachers? Why do they not understand that what is right for one may not be right for another? Why should one man’s right be another’s wrong?” –The Flowers of Evil

As promised by the ending of his prequel, Simon Acland returns his readers to the Crusader period and the adventures of his hero, Hugh de Verdon in The Flowers of Evil, available later this summer. When the reader last saw Hugh in The Waste Land, captivity in the stronghold of by Hasan-i-Sabah, the mysterious Old Man of the Mountains had broken him. Hugh also learned that the woman he loved was not his ideal. Hugh’s story unravels through the lens of history, where the old Master of a bankrupt college, collaborating with several of his counterparts in administration and a former student, a Best-Selling Author, attempt to piece together Hugh's later years. As in the prequel, there are other forces at work intent on keeping the work a secret. One by one, the college’s administrators suffer mysterious deaths and mishaps, as the Best-Selling Author starts to wonder whether he isn’t putting his own life at risk in the endeavor.

The Flowers of Evil parallels the misadventures at the college with the hero’s life. Hugh moves as easily between the Christian and Muslim worlds, as The Flowers of Evil dovetails his life and the events befalling the administrators. Initiated into the Hasan-i-Sabah’s rites, Hugh embarks on a quest for vengeance that claims the life of a beloved fried. As before, he questions his faith and finds similarities in religions that claim to be disparate from each other. He meets several strangers, each of whom will have everlasting effects on his life and events of the Crusades. The story explores the convoluted period, including the origin of the Templars and some of the myths surrounding them. When Hugh returns to his birth country of France, a chance encounter with a little boy named Chretien ensures his name in history.    

Author Simon Acland

Reading The Flowers of Evil was like visiting an old friend. Most of the characters I enjoyed in The Waste Land returned, though those who had met a terrible, if justified end in the first book gave rise to newer, more malevolent characters in this one. The only figure that completely puzzled me was the old hermit in the desert; I’m off to ask Mr. Acland for a little insider knowledge on the ideas behind the character, so I hope he’ll indulge me. Most of all, I anticipate there will be more to follow on Hugh’s life. If not, there should be. Mr. Acland still writes with confidence and skill about the period. Anyone with an interest in the period will enjoy this novel. 

I don’t recommend reading this latest book before exploring some of the mysteries of the prequel. If a reader does not know of some of the adventures Hugh has in The Waste Land, it might be difficult to comprehend the heart-breaking circumstance he finds himself in at the beginning of The Flowers of Evil.

The Waste Land by Simon Acland

“The abbey awed me; it was in itself the largest town I had seen, ringed by a thick wall broken by occasional narrow windows, with the houses of the village scattered around outside. By the wall loomed the skeleton of a building greater than I had dreamed possible, clad in wooden scaffolding. The ribbed bones of huge arches made me think of the great fish which had swallowed up holy Jonah. The entrance was guarded by a solid gatehouse. It squatted on the walls with menace. I realised that it hunched there as much to close the inhabitants in as to keep strangers out. Above the gates was carved the Clunaic coat of arms – two large keys crossed over a single heavenwards pointing sword. It pictured to me an uncompromising message: ‘here forever you will be locked away from your childhood knightly ambition.’

– Hugh de Verdon, The Waste Land

In The Waste Land by Simon Acland, the Master of a nearly bankrupt college needs to improve the institution’s finances. Enter a former student, now a Best-Selling Author and the Research Assistant with a timely solution: the novelization of an ancient manuscript. The turbulent life of Hugh de Verdon, a would-be knight errant unfolds on this timeworn parchment, which seems to predate the unfinished work of Chrétien de Troyes, on Perceval and the grail. Each of the college’s administrators has a keen interest in the manuscript, much to the Best-Selling Author’s dismay. When their concerns conflict, it soon becomes clear that one person among them is less keen on the adaptation of Hugh’s fascinating story, and perhaps is willing to kill his academic rivals to prevent its publication.

As Mr. Acland takes the reader from the contemporary world of the college to the high Middle Ages, likewise Hugh moves between the secular and spiritual spheres of the world, often questioning the ideals and realities of both arenas. Orphaned and disinherited in his childhood, he enters the Benedictine abbey at Cluny, seemingly consigned to a monkish life forever. Yet his natural curiosity soon takes him beyond the abbey walls, as Pope Urban II announces the holy Crusade to retake Jerusalem and the surrounding cities from the Muslims. Now in the service of Duke Godfrey de Bouillon, Hugh journeys on his own quest to become a knight, resolve the doubts surrounding his faith, and find the woman he loves. In a strange encounter with a mysterious Old Man of the Mountains, Hugh undergoes a life-altering change and learns some of the answers he is seeking lie in his past.

Whether in the depiction of Hugh’s loneliness at Cluny, or the gory battle scenes of the First Crusade, Mr. Acland excels at showing Hugh’s development. Each scene and location is remarkably detailed, and the historical figures are equally fascinating. In particular, I enjoyed the characterization on Hugh’s overlord Godfrey, as a lusty, battle-hardened leader; often shown in contrast to his conniving brother Baldwin de Boulogne, who usually serves to frustrate Godfrey’s plans. Hugh’s first-person narration ensures that the reader experiences the full range of the character’s emotions and thoughts, and a deeply personal view of his perspective on the Crusade. I won’t spoil the ending, but it entirely fits the theme of a grail romance. Hugh’s journey continues in the sequel, The Flowers of Evil, due in 2011.