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the LITERARY HILL A Compendium of Readers, Writers, Books, & Events by Karen Lyon
Blessings Amid the Wreckage A legendary storm sets the stage for Peter Manseau’s new novel and continues to howl through its pages. “The Maiden of All Our Desires” tells the tempestuous tale of Gaerdegen, a 14th-century European abbey that survives the plague, rumors of heresy and the foibles of its leaders. Told in incantatory prose, the story unfolds according to the offices of the convent ‒ Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nonce, Vespers, and Compline ‒ with each part adding depth and nuance to the story. Among the characters are the elderly Mother John, the current abbess, who as a young woman defied her family by taking the veil rather than being forced to wed a wealthy older man. And there’s Father Francis, the youngest son of a family of woodworkers, whose carving lacks the “spark of life” found in his father’s and brother’s work, but who is not without skills. He finds himself sought after by the widows in his town, who have seen him working bare-chested in his shop and flock to seek forgiveness from the comely young priest. “I’d grant them absolution,” he later recalls, “and then give them more to confess.” For his sins, he is exiled to Gaerdegen, where he fulfills his priestly duties
but finds his true inspiration scouring the forest for “saints uncarved.” When news of the plague reaches the isolated abbey, its inhabitants are divided, with some advocating prayer to keep death and disease at bay and others pushing to build a wall. In the end, the story of Gaerdegen becomes a parable of sorts, a meditation on faith and guilt, on how history shapes us and on the hope that underlies human existence. “Every season brings its own liturgy, its own trials, its own transformation,” their founder advises her sisters, in a message that seems even more timely today. “Search now for a blessing, even in the wreckage this storm has left behind.” Peter Manseau serves as curator of religion at the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to his award-winning novel, “Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter,” he has written eight nonfiction works, including “The Apparitionists,” “Rag and Bone,” and a memoir, “Vows.” www.petermanseau.com
Game of Thrones
A 14th-century European convent endures the plague and other trials in Peter Manseau’s new novel, “The Maiden of All Our Desires.”
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With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine straining the already tense US-Saudi relationship, it might be time for a refresher course. And no one is better qualified to provide it than David B. Ottaway, who has been covering Saudi Arabia as a Washington Post journalist, Middle East bureau chief and scholar since the 1970s. In his new book, “Mohammed bin Salman: The Icarus of Saudi Arabia?,” Ottaway explores the complex history of US-Sau-
Scholar and journalist David B. Ottaway explores the rise and fall of a controversial crown prince in “Mohammed bin Salman: The Icarus of Saudi Arabia?”
di relations and how the actions and character of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto head of the government, are further jeopardizing an already tenuous bond. For decades, the US has had an unwritten “oil for security” understanding with the small, vulnerable Gulf kingdom, whose safety relies on military aid from the US. When King Abdullah died in 2015, King Salman assumed the throne and, defying the royal succession, named his son, MBS, deputy crown prince. In a power struggle that Ottaway terms a “game of thrones,” MBS forced the abdication of his royal rival, thereby “putting the fate of the house of Saud in the hands of a neophyte thirty-one-year-old prince.” From the beginning, MBS’s “boiling ambition” was evident, as was his penchant for suppressing opposition. In 2017, less than three months after being promoted to crown prince, his security agents arrested 20 clerics, liberal writers, academics and journalists opposed to his vision for a new Saudi Arabia. One credible Saudi voice in exile who decried MBS’s suppression of critics was Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote a series of opinion pieces for the Washington Post. In 2018, Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, almost (Continued on pg. 81)
