Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Watermark
Author: Vanitha Sankaran
Publisher: Avon
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-184927-5
Release Date: April 2010
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
Year/Setting: France, 1320
Overall Rating: 3.5
Sexual Content Rating: None
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: Moderate/Extreme (Historical Period of the Inquisition)
Vanitha's Website/Blog: www.vanithasankaran.com
Dear Readers:
We begin this gut-wrenching historical novel with a baby being born on a wretched evening to Elena – a mother who gives up her own life so that her baby may live. The old healer named Biatris who is attending the frightened mother, looks down at the translucent pink skin, slightly worm-like eyes, and white hair of the new albino infant and believes that the demons of the world inhabit this new bundle of joy. Taking horrible precautions, the woman cuts out the tongue of the child, as her assistant rushes to the infant and saves the mutilated young girl before escaping into the night.
We jump ahead to the spring of 1320, as Audra wakes from her pallet of straw and begins her daily work with her beloved father. The mute girl is an absolute expert at reading and writing. She is the daughter of a papermaker in a small French village. He is an absolute expert at making a product that the world will soon not be able to live without. Audra’s sister, Poncia, scoffs at the young mute’s ambition to be a writer and storyteller to the masses. She believes it would be much better and safer for her younger sibling to find a decent man who will offer her protection in the strange, frightening world that’s starting to blow up around them all. She is extremely worried about her sister who has been known in surrounding villages as “The White Witch.” If the men with the long flowing capes spot Audra, her life will surely be over.
We follow Audra as she grows and spends time with her father at The Stationer’s Shop on Parchmenter’s Lane. There, her father writes letters for the people of the small town, and helps them with their correspondence because of their inability to read and write. In addition, the Vicomtesse of the village orders the special paper that Audra’s father has made. She is absolutely enthralled with the product, and through a dinner thrown by Audra’s sister, the heads of the town bring Audra into the safety of their castle so that she can help them transcribe letters and write poetry and stories for the Vicomtesse. Unfortunately for Audra, the Vicomte seems to have an attraction to her – an attraction that will eventually lead to a painful and frightening life for the young girl.
The author offers a very well-researched and sometimes extremely vivid representation of this horrific time in history – where good people lost their lives at the hands of The Church. In fact, if anyone recorded thoughts, hopes, or ideas that were not a part of The Church’s beliefs, they were burned without thought or remorse. In a way, this pain and anguish is still with us in some respects today. Even though we have freedom of speech in America and other parts of the world, in all discussions, judgment against each other seems to remain solidly in place. I commend this author for the amount of work she took in researching her subject. From the Inquisition, itself, to the in-depth information on papermaking, she has done a fantastic job compiling the information. Readers will learn a great deal.
Until next time, Amy
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