Sepulchre: A Journey Through Mysticism & Love
An Intricate Tale of French Past and Present, Love and Loss
Dec 22, 2008
Sepulchre is defined by Websters Dictionary online as:
1. A place of burial
2. A receptacle for religious relics, especially in an alter.
In 1891, Leonie' Vernier travels to a countryside home with her brother, Anatole, to visit a distantly related aunt. At Domaine de la Cade, she finds herself entranced with books on the occult written by her late uncle. She also comes across tarot cards that are the main item of interest throughout the novel.
In 2007, Meredith Martin travels to the Domaine de la Cade searching for answers. She seeks answers about her family, as well as answers about composer Claude Debussy, of whom she is writing a book. While there, she becomes entwined with the same mysteries Leonie' Vernier found fascinating.
Parallel Time Frames
Mosse does an exquisite job of transferring between the women's times. Chapter by chapter, the reader is moved from nineteenth century sensibilities to modern day concerns and practices. 1891 does not seem nearly as far removed from 2007 as the two heroines learn about their families, love, and the spiritual realm that is the tarot.
Seventeen year old Leonie' is headstrong, intelligent, romantic and clever. Her heart is full and she is immensely likeable. As she travels with her brother and aunt, Mosse portrays clearly the notions of a teenager in the woman she is becoming.
Meredith's character is very much like that of Leonie's. She is adventurous, she is stubborn and strong. While perhaps not as dynamic as the character of Leonie', she is still easy to picture as the reader follows her path through the woods as she confronts the demons.
The Tarot
Mosse gives an excellent history of the tarot, and specifically of the tarot as it came to be practiced at the Domaine de la Cade. The images she creates of the tarot figures on the walls of the ancient sepulchre, as well as of the cards themselves, is vibrant and specific. This allows the reader to easily see the resemblance of those images to the novel's characters.
The mysticism surrounding the tarot is also handled well. There is little mention of religion or religious conflict, thereby keeping the story line clean and flowing. Although she has fictionalized a historical place, she uses much fact and many real names to flesh out the work. The reader ends up with a very basic knowledge of tarot through Sepulchre.
Love in Sepulchre
The relationships in this text are well done. Again, while Meredith and her life could have been a bit more fleshed out, the difference between the times is made clear by the difference in emotion and travel. The fact that Meredith is American and Hal, her love interest, is English, show how travel makes the world a different place. Leonie' is French, and her family is not out of the ordinary for living in the far country side.
Leonie's love for her family is perhaps the most engaging aspect of this novel. The love between she and her brother makes the novel all the more poetic and heart wrenching. So too is the love between her brother and his wife, whose gentle soul never quite recovers.
A mother's love, too, is handled well. While Leonie' and her brother are fond of their mother, they are not overly close to her. But it is their mother who tries desperatley to save them, giving all she can to do so.
Twisted love plays counterpart as well. The evil Victor Constant is bent on the Vernier's destruction because of a percieved slight by the woman he loved. His version of love is one of pain and control, and throughout the reader is both averse to and fascinated by him.
The Author
Kate Mosse is the author of five other books, including Labyrinth, which won several awards and was printed in 37 languages and 40 countries. She lives in both West Sussex and Carcasonne (a village in featured in Sepulchre) with her family. She keeps a blog and lists of her works and progress for interested readers. Mosse is the Co-Founder & Honorary Director of the Orange Prize for Fiction, set up in 1996 to celebrate outstanding fiction by women from throughout the world.
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