The Brotherhood of Book Hunters

by Raphaël Jerusalmy

Overview

The Da Vinci Code meets Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve in this erudite adventure story set at the dawn of the printed book about the outlaw poet François Villon and the power of words to change the world.

François Villon, the world's first poet of modernity, was born in Paris in 1431. He was arrested and condemned to death by hanging in 1462 and exonerated in 1463. Shortly after his release from prison, as far as history is concerned, he disappeared forever. 

In Raphaël Jerusalmy's thrilling novel, to ensure his release, Villon has accepted a shady deal offered by the Bishop of Paris at the behest of Louis XI. All Villon has to do to earn his freedom is to convince a printer and bookseller to move from Mayence to Paris, telling him that by doing so he'll be better able to circulate progressive ideas that aren't approved of in Rome. Not surprisingly, Villon's task becomes more complicated that it first seemed. With this riveting tale of plots and counterplots involving secret organizations in Jerusalem, intrigue in France, and brigands in Italy, Raphaël Jerusalmy leaves readers with their hearts racing and their imaginations stirred. The Brotherhood of Book Hunters is an irresistible read for lovers of books, adventure, and fine writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609452308
Publisher:	Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/04/2014
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Raphaël Jerusalmy was born in Montmartre, France in 1954. After receiving diplomas from the École Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne, he worked with Israeli Military Intelligrance. His previous novel, Saving Mozart (Europa Editions, 2013) was selected as a B&N Holiday Discover Pick. He currently sells antique books in Tel-Aviv.

For Europa Editions, Howard Curtis has translated five novels by Jean-Claude Izzo, including all three books in Izzo's Marseilles trilogy, as well as works by Francisco Coloane, Luis Sepúlveda, Caryl Férey, Daniel Arsand, Santiago Gamboa, and Carole Martinez.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is simply remarkable.”—L’Humanité
 
“A strong novel of thrilling adventures, full of energy, of malice, of insolence, and of scholarship . . . The journey is epic.”—L’Express

Editorial Reviews

11/17/2014
It is 1462 and the poet François Villon sits in a filthy Parisian prison waiting to be executed. Records show that his sentence was changed to banishment, and after 1463, he disappears from all record. Jeruslamy (Saving Mozart) picks up at this point and spins a wild story that has Villon being pardonded by King Louis XI in exchange for some favors that could very well bring the Papacy to its knees. His first mission is to convince a bookseller to print and disseminate some banned works for the French diocese in order to tilt public favor against the Vatican. The deal is not as straightforward as it seems, however, and in order to complete his mission, he must travel to Jerusalem, "a city not so much built of stone and bricks as fashioned out of words and dreams." So begins his great voyage across the sea and into the Holy Land, where he and his traveling companion, Colin, are introduced to Christian monks, rabbis, and a mysterious group of rebels called the Brotherhood of Book Hunters. François's mission becomes more convoluted than ever, and although the plot is cinematic and full of twists, the novel trips over its erratic prose, which can be hackneyed and difficult to follow. This is an ambitious second novel that never quite lives up to its potential. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Brotherhood of Book Hunters

“Simply remarkable.”
—L’Humanité

"In this intriguing game of shadows, Jerusalmy sketches a second life for François Villon, a political-religious adventure that is full of twists and turns, and bloody Machiavellian plots in the style of Umberto Eco and Dan Brown."
—Laurence Cossé, author of A Novel Bookstore
 
“A strong novel of thrilling adventures, full of energy, of malice, of insolence, and of scholarship... The journey is epic.”
—L’Express

"The Brotherhood of Book Hunters is a scholarly text and at the same time a crime novel with bountiful, often very funny prose. In short, this is an inventive and exciting novel."
—La Lettrine


Praise for Jerusalmy' Saving Mozart

"This slender, confident debut novel is deliciously atmospheric and tense."
—The Financial Times

"Saving Mozart read like an unexpected gift."
—The Big Issue

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Condemned to death, François Villon, the great (and rascally) poet of the French Middle Ages escapes execution when he agrees to a scheme proposed by Guillaume Chartier, bishop of Paris, and Louis XI himself. In a move meant to challenge Rome, he must persuade freethinking German printer Johann Fust to resettle in Paris. Soon, Villon's mission expands to the Holy Land (French-born Jerusalmy, author of Saving Mozart, sells antique books in Tel-Aviv). The result is a fabulously entertaining picaresque and a great portrait of Villon.

Library Journal

★ 2014-09-13
Reaching back to the tumultuous 15th century, Jerusalmy chronicles a fictional tale of real-life brigand/poet François Villon, dispatched to find The Brotherhood of Book Hunters. Jerusalmy's dense and erudite narrative begins in Paris. Villon has been imprisoned for his writings, but Louis XI and Guillaume Chartier, bishop of Paris, are scheming to break Rome's hold over France. The pair want Villon to lure Johann Fust, a Gutenberg ally, to Paris to establish a printing concern to make his books more available. The king's plot later expands. He forces Villon and Colin de Cayeux, another Coquillard bandit, to journey to Jerusalem, "homeland of prophets and psalmists, peasants and fallen angels." They're to find the shadowy Brotherhood, an eclectic collection of Jews, revisionist Christians and others intent on preserving the world's knowledge, and secure books to supply the Paris printing presses. As the hardy pair trek "from Rue St. Jacques to Genoa, from Acre to the monastery in Galilee and to Safed," characters abound: the fashionable fop and de' Medici agent Federico Castaldi; archivist Brother Médard, a cranky, combative dwarf; and young Rabbi Gamliel ben Sira, gaon of Safed, who speaks for the Brotherhood's secret leader. In the library, located deep underground in "Invisible Jerusalem," Villon learns the Brotherhood's collection includes the "overwhelming testament dictated by Jesus to the high priest Annas just before his arrest," a document critical to the Papacy and freethinkers alike. In deft translation, the novel sparkles with fanciful descriptions—"He would throw a judicious quotation at an eminent rival as you throw a knife at a straw target"—and Machiavellian machinations, highlighted by scholarly but accessible ruminations on Aristotle and Plato, religion and humanism, which are symbolically relevant to the forces gathering to bring on Reformation and Enlightenment, "to free the word from those who had been keeping it hostage in their chapels and cellars for centuries." Literate. Brilliant. Entertaining.

Kirkus Reviews