Review of The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie

Historical Puzzler for Fans of The Da Vinci Code

Apr 16, 2009

Hardie, best known for appearances on This Morning with Richard & Judy, has published her first novel, a cleverly plotted thriller which uncovers the secrets of the past.

The year is 1609, and Doctor John Dee, eminent mathematician, astrologer, alchemist, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, lies on his deathbed. His final words are instructions to a young companion, who watches in horror as three silent, cloaked figures enter the room and remove the old man’s heart as soon as he has taken his last breath. It is his intention that this, along with the many secrets of his life, should one day pass to his descendants.

Despite these occasional forays into the past, most of the novel is set in present day, where beautiful Lucy King is awaiting a heart operation in London. Her surgery is a success, and leads her to form a bond with her doctor, Alex Stafford, closer than either one of them could have imagined. Together, they embark on a journey to uncover the truth about the secrets lurking in both their pasts.

The Key and the 34 Riddles

Alex’s brother Will has discovered a series of 34 mysterious riddles, and is also in possession of a small silver key that has been passed from mother to daughter for generations – until Alex and Will’s mother Diana produces only male offspring.

This key will reputedly unlock great family treasures, although in the wrong hands its ownership has the effect of a deadly curse. Alex and Lucy must solve these puzzles, and protect the key from falling into the clutches of people who want it for the wrong reasons, and will stop at nothing to get what they believe is their right.

Their mission takes them across France and the UK, visiting the labyrinth at Chartres and Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare, amongst other key locations.

"Themes of Ideological Conflict"

The book is a long one, and occasionally quite complex in its ideas: the author admits that she has used the novel “to explore themes of ideological conflict and the dangers of narrow, entrenched thinking”. This aim creates a few problems in the text: the characters, likeable though they are, often come across as unconvincing, as their dialogue is frequently full of long expositions about history and religion – simply not believable as natural speech.

This is a minor flaw, however, in an interesting and ambitious book. The real bonus is the appendix, which contains all 34 of the riddles encountered in the novel – not all of them are discussed in the book, so the reader has the opportunity to solve them for themselves.

The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie is published in paperback in the UK by Headline Review (2008), ISBN 978-0-7553-4457-4.

The copyright of the article Review of The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie in Modern British Fiction is owned by Elizabeth Gregory. Permission to republish Review of The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Oct 18, 2009 3:33 PM

Guest :

"the reader has the opportunity to solve them for themselves."
What? Again, please, in English. "The reader" is not plural. The fact that modern speakers of English don't understand that "he" does not automatically imply patriarchalism and masculine domination does not begin to justify "they" as a singular pronoun... this shows the linguistic absurdity to which is leads.
There is NOTHING wrong with "the reader has the opportunity to solve them for himself" - even if "he" is a woman.