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It's not surprising at all that Spanish author Matilde Asensi's THE LAST CATO was creating international buzz even before Pamela Carmell's brilliant English translation brought it to life here. This enormous tale of subterranean mystery, intrigue and betrayal around a bizarre quest for the true cross of Christ has had nearly five years to build up steam in its native tongue.
Almost from the time THE LAST CATO hit the shelves in Spanish in 2001, European reviewers saw the potential for comparing Asensi (author of several previous bestsellers) with Dan Brown of the recently notorious THE DA VINCI CODE. And in this case, the comparison is as appropriate as any can be in the fluid realm where deep scholarship meets imaginative speculation. This deliciously murky literary world is where Asensi --- thanks to Carmell's richly engaging and intuitive English --- deserves to be hailed as a new world champion of convoluted plotlines and enigmatic protagonists.
For this reader, still coming up for air after a dizzying trek at breakneck speed through time and space in the bowels of the Roman Catholic Church, THE LAST CATO is the new last word in postmodern quest literature. Combining elements of medieval mystery drama, gothic thriller, surrealist fantasy and classic travel literature, it throws together an unlikely trio of extraordinary strangers --- scholarly nun, unemployed linguist, and taciturn super-spy --- who often know little more about what might happen to them next than does the breathless reader.
Holy relics, said to be morsels of wood from the cross of Christ, have been disappearing all over the world and the Vatican is trying to hush up the story, while seeking to return them all to their respective (and lucrative) shrines, monasteries and ancient churches. But unlike most of the scandals and aberrations Mother Church has quietly quashed over the centuries, this one won't stay under wraps, and so extraordinary measures are called for.
Disaster happens, notoriety happens, self-discovery and secular love happen, and skeletons come charging out of closets at almost every turn. But the massive case of relic thefts is finally concluded, the multi-layered mystery of a tenacious clandestine sect is both revealed and protected, and the weary travelers each find their personal denouement in ways they never could have predicted.
What is astonishing and often provocative along the way is Asensi's intricate weaving of obscure details from legitimate church history, a critical clarity toward present-day religious authorities, the clue-laden literary monolith of Italian poet Dante's "Divine Comedy," a thorough knowledge of European geography and culture, and a subtle but tensile thread of intelligent feminism. The result is a dynamic artistic chemistry that reaches right down to one's molecules from first page to epilogue. And once you emerge from it all, just like Asensi's wonderfully formed characters, you find that life "on the surface" can never be quite the same again.
Even if you never gave the Church or its history half a passing thought, you won't regret hitching a wild ride on THE LAST CATO.
--- Reviewed by Pauline Finch (paulinefinch@rogers.com)
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