"Never in history had the perfection of a life rested in the hands of a moment. Of this he was certain... This day was about everything his future would not be; it was about matters of the heart. Matters of life and death. About the empirical elements of life, which had caused him countless grieveances and immense distress through the previous years".
"In her eyes, I had momentarily witnessed eternity; from nothing to everything in a single moment. Time had stood still and in that moment, when nothing had happened, everything had happened".
A Moment of Faith by Martin Svaneborg is a historical romance, told in dualtime setting.
It's difficult to describe the genre of the book - it's a combination of a philosophical treatise on love and a mystery thriller along the lines of The Da Vinci Code.
We meet an eccentric scholar of theology Søren Kierkegaard as he runs out of his house to meet the love of his life, Regine Olsen, while she heads home from her piano lessons. She invites him in and plays the piano. Overcome with emotion, Søren proclaims his love. In a miserable state of lust and anxiety, he asks Regine's father for her hand in marriage.
"Unbeknowst to the councillor, the young man would later become one of the greatest literary advocates for love the world would ever see, but had the councillor known what gruesome fate the love of this young couple would endure, he would have been sensible enough to turn down the proposal".
As soon as Regine accepts his proposal, Søren realises that he has made a terrible mistake.
Fifteen years later, reclusive Kierkegaard comes up with a mission against what he believes to be a false interpretation of Christianity. "All his life, he had fought the inner turmoil of his own faith and conviction against this deceit, the so-called Christian Church... It had to end... This Church had to be anihilated. It had to cease to exist".
His personal vendetta against the Bishop of Copenhagen "would not only cause conflict and controversy but utter catastrophe". He is doing it for his principles, but also for Regine, whom he sacrificed for "the very essence of his life's mission. His faith was the core of his being, and now he would go as far as to throw himself at the hands of public scorn, ridicule, and accusation".
Copenhagen, the present:
Christian Kardahl, an introverted scholar of theology, finishes writing an assignment on one of Kiekegaard's works, where he questioned whether the Christian church had any true value and legitimacy as a religion. Working in the library, he comes across a notification on the forthcoming lecture on the Irvingites. Starting to dig further, Christian reads about the Catholic-Apostolic Church in Denmark.
Inspired by what he's discovered, he visits the service at the Church.
Christian immediately feels that there is a warmth and hospitality in that church and its congregation, that he wants to be part of. There he meets a mysterious young woman, Emma, who makes an enigmatic request, "You must save the church".
An old letter found in the library compels Christian to continue his historical research. When a brutal murder follows the discovery of the letter, the past begins to come alive. "There was only one way to figure out what this was all about; figure out exactly what needed saving and why. And oh, yeah: Why ME? It was time for some detective work".
Thus Christian and Emma begin their quest to save the church and likely their lives, as someone ruthless is on their trail. In a whirlwind of events and clues, they have to travel far to solve the mystery. Will their hearts shatter along the way, or is there a new light shining stronger?
The novel's strengths are the atmospheric descriptions of the city, the church, and the portrayal of the doomed love between the tormented philosopher and his muse.
I felt like reading two different novels, one an equisite historical narrative, a moving story, told with a masterful restraint, another a vigorous conspiracy romp written by "Dan Brown".
I didn't warm up to Christian or his source of inspiration. The sex scene was rather awkward, and didn't add much to the narrative.
Dualtime (sliptime or split-time) novels are very popular now. They explore the significant part the historical past still plays in our contemporary lives. Sometimes the two plotlines are linked organically, sometimes the modern story serves as a vessel to explore the secrets of the past.
I was intrigued by the mystery which Christian and Emma tried to solve, but it's the historical tale and portrayal of Kierkegaard that truly caught my attention.
A Moment of Faith is a compelling novel of love, persuasion and intellectual ambition. The theme of a timeless tension between romantic ideas of sublime love and domestic realities is finespun and elegantly told.
This post is part of the blog tour for A Moment of Faith.
Many thanks to Martin Svaneborg and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book.
Purchase Link - http://mybook.to/amomentoffaith
Author Bio – With a background in musical theatre as both an actor, singer, and dancer, Martin Svaneborg has spent his teenage and adult life as a storyteller. In 2018, driven mainly by his interest in the history of religion, Martin started studying theology at the University of Copenhagen while exploring other ways of telling stories as a theatre director, speech coach, and speaker, hence the transition to novel writing felt natural, and his debut novel is a fusion of his growing interest for the personal life of the philosophers he encountered during his studies and the desire to tell an adventurous love story. Also, he, like Kierkegaard, has a thing for nice, long sentences.
Social Media Links –
Instagram - @kingsleypublishers
Instagram - @martinsvaneborg_author
Twitter - @kingsleypublis1
5
No comments:
Post a Comment