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REVIEW
The Forgotten Palace is an epic timeslip novel that is as intriguing as its cover. And what a wild ride it is through the pages of history that includes the real-life excavation at Knosses in Crete! There’s a fair bit of historical content utilised skilfully and beautifully on the lost civilization of the Minoans. The author weaves this through the story and makes it personal through her imagined characters plus real life persons such as archaeologist Arthur Evans who wanted to rediscover the Minoans.
Ms Walsh created Alice Webster, as the fictional Victorian England heroine, who ends up on the real dig through a chance meeting on a train, after she has accepted her Aunt’s invitation to go on a Grand Tour. She has been caught in a scandal and has shamed her family. Now she seeks a way forward by being part of the dig to find the forgotten palace. While helping it rise up from the soil to tell its story again, she escapes her own. The author has noted that her action is similar to the ‘symbolic labyrinth of despair and lost love’. It is easy to see parallels between her and the Greek classic myth. We know from history the Knosses Palace ruins were uncovered but the labyrinth was not. Many have wondered though, if the inspiration for the labyrinth myth was drawn from the building itself which had numerous maze-like compartments.
It was an effortless transition travelling back and forth between 1900 and present day with the journey starting in London, continuing to Crete and dotted by short passages of ancient Greece and the Minotaur myth. I loved how the chapters were grouped together giving us ample opportunity within each time period to get acquainted with the characters and their dramas and to obtain an encompassing feel of the settings before being shifted forwards or backwards. This format creates a gentle flow with no abrupt changes in the two storylines.
Eloise De’Ath of the current timeline has lost her husband to an unexpected death but although onlookers expect her to be grieving, she is relieved. She has had a very difficult marriage and if others knew the truth of her late husband’s activities, they would truly understand her lack of grief. Needing to escape the whole horrid experience, she prepares to put the marriage home up for sale and heads to Crete, to the house left to her by her father-in-law Quinn along with his life’s work: the Victorian excavation to locate the Minotaur’s labyrinth. There in Quinn’s office she finds and reads the diaries of Alice who was part of the dig. And becomes deeply fascinated by the Minotaur myth and fixated on Ariadne, the princess of the labyrinth.
This story is about so many things (including the finding and preserving of historical artefacts) but also a good portion is about abuse and forgiveness, innocence and maturity, bondage and independence, infatuation and love. Learning what a healthy relationship is and if you find you are in a bad one, digging your way out of the dirt. Having courage to let yourself heal and to rise out of the ashes into the warmth and kindness of truly caring arms. Arms that do not punish but hold you through the darkness and pain. Even teaching frightened feet to dance again with joy.
The past and present meet on Quinn’s property of many mysteries as they walk ‘the steep path to the hidden grove with the standing stone.’ The story of the Palace is brought to light and delivered together through people such as Quinn, Alice and Eloise.
This is a stunning piece of historical fiction, highly researched and filled to the brim with fascinating pieces of Cretan history. This past year I have read a number of fiction books with the Minotaur myth at their core. And this is yet another, but it is a worthy addition with its remarkable tale of love. I definitely recommend it but yes, it is not light reading in places and some parts will make you shudder with grief but in the end you will smile at its satisfying ending. I am really glad I read it. Thanks to Boldwood for the invitation and to Netgalley for my review copy. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
