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> The Bone Church

EBOOK The Bone Church

FREE PDF » BOOK The Bone Church í In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement and a gypsy with a risky sex life As one by one their chances for fleeing Ts of Prague while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War Felix and Magdalena must confront the past and a dangerous uncertain futu “The Bone Church” by Victoria Dougherty is a gripping and atmospheric historical thriller that intelligently weaves two narratives into one another One is set in 1956 and involves a rescue mission to get a woman out of Czechoslovakia aided by the Vatican while another plot line is set in German occupied Moravia and Prague during WW2Both plots involve Magdalena a Jewish woman and her gentile husband Felix under ground hiding and resistance fighters an assassination plot The suspense will keep you close to the edge of your seat The book is both entertaining with its dramatic curve and also educational and insightful for those of us who have only basic knowledge of life in Czechoslovakia during and especially after WW2 Dougherty skilfully portrays life and its difficulties for Jews Czechs and gypsies under the Nazis with excellently drawn characters while also providing some lesser known facts and historical events in Czechia and Slovakia; in particular a show trial in 1952 really showed me how little I knew about the post war period Although the level of suspense is always high in the rewarding way of great underground spy thrillers it never loses sight of the seriousness of the times The bone church of the title is a small Roman Catholic chapel in Sedlec a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic and contains artistically arranged bones from skeletons to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel Its symbolism and function as returning focal point for the story contributes to the artful and ever so stylish canvass that the author is painting onDougherty has a sharp and observing mind that can uickly draw a picture scene or a character with only a few well chosen words and attributes but her descriptions go beyond bare skeletons and show how well researched the book is and how competent the writing Her understanding of the human psyche makes her characters either likeable or laughable but always memorable Her dry sense of humour and wit liven the novel in a welcomed understated way Corruption and underhand dealings are seen for what they are as is naivety It is hard to pitch irony in a serious novel but the author has done a perfect job at it The writing is authentic stylish realistic and very addictive

TEXT é The Bone Church Ï Victoria Dougherty

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement and a gypsy with a risky sex life As one by one their chances for fleeing the I received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher through Net Galley in return for an honest reviewThis book is made by a double plot the first one occurs in 1956 where there is a rescue mission in order to get a woman out of the Czech Republic with the aid of the Vatican; the second one is set in German occupied Moravia and PragueThe bone church which gives the tittle for this book is the Church of All Saints which is a small Roman Catholic chapel located in Sedlec a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic Beneath the Cemetery there is the Sedlec Ossuary In this ossuary it is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40000 and 70000 people whose human skulls and bones cover and decorated the chapel These people died of the plague in 1318 and during the Hussite wars in the 15th centuryThe pictures of this Ossuary reminds me the Capela dos Ossos Chapel of Bones located in Evora Portugal which I have visited a couple of years agoThe second church mentioned by the author is the Carmelite Church of Our lady Victorious located in Malá Strana Prague In its interior there is the famous statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague which was made of wax coated in the 16th century This statue portrays the child Jesus holding a globus crucifer some legends state that it once belonged to Saint Teresa of Avila and allegedly holds miraculous powersThe history of the miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague is available at National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of PragueThere is an interesting book The Holy Infant of Prague by Josef Forbelský which describes both the Church and the Infant Jesus as well See my review herePaul Claudel also wrote a beautiful poem L’Enfant Jésus de Prague dedicated to the Infant of PragueWell let’s go back to the book under review here The author makes use of these two important and historical monuments as the scenario of the main plot which makes gives a hint of drama into the narrative itselfLocation 1755Goebbels paid your father a considerable sum to get him to steal the Infant He wanted to replace the Infant with a fake and wait for its obsessive minders to discover the fraud Goebbels could then publicize the fact that the Czechs had been praying to a false god and present the real Infant as proof of the Reich’s invincibilityLocation 2272It had been a regular cathedral lorded over by a monk who devised a most macabre solution to the considerable problem of storing the deadthe monk commissioned a carpenter to ornament the interior of his church entirely with human bone“Legend has it that if you enter the Church of Bones with malevolence in your heart you will remain there with the dead forever” Felix recalledA uite enjoyable and promising reading since this is the first novel of this author

Victoria Dougherty Ï The Bone Church DOC

The Bone Church Country collapse the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Josef Goebbels But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong propelling the lovers in separate directions Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskir I should probably have thrown in the towel when the story stopped working for me and I was forcing myself to continue reading the book But no this was a netgalley book and I was going to finish it This is the last time I think so next time when the book fails me I will just stop and read something else instead of suffering through I book that is clearly not meant for me The Bone Church follows two separate story lines WW2 in Prague and after the war several years later; unfortunately it just didn’t work because it just made the story confusing to read Suddenly you are in the past and you reading about characters you hardly remember I just felt lost and also the characters weren’t memorable I just didn’t care if they found each other or if the real infant of Prague was found apparently that was part of the story also Frankly my dear I just don't give a damnA half star upgraded to one star since GR don't have half stars Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review Review also posted on And Now for Something Completely Different and It's a Mad Mad World