This best seller, which is also the focus of the
international book-club on the Feminenza
website, has been described as 'unputdownable'
by many of its readers, often leading to
nights with little sleep, trying to get through a
few more chapters. This is because the author
manages to combine masterful storytelling and
suspense with the unraveling of an important
mystery, which seems to want to be unveiled
at this time.
Dan Brown says about how he got the idea of
writing this book: "This particular story kept
knocking on my door until I answered. I first
learned of the mysteries hidden in Da Vinci's
paintings whilst I was studying the history of
art at the University of Seville in Spain. Years
later, while researching Angels & Demons and
the Vatican Secret Archives, I encountered the
Da Vinci enigma yet again. I arranged a trip to
the Louvre Museum where I was fortunate
enough to view the originals of some of Da
Vinci's most famous works, as well as discuss
them with an art historian who helped me
better understand the mystery behind their
surprising anomalies. From then on, I was captivated.
I spent a year doing research before
writing The Da Vinci Code."
We won't reveal
too much of the plot, as it will take some of the fun of reading
away, so
a brief glimpse follows. A renowned Harvard
symbologist is summoned to the Louvre
Museum to examine a series of cryptic symbols
relating to Da Vinci's artwork, to find clues
about the bizarre death of the elderly curator
at the Louvre, Jacques Saunière. In decrypting
the code, he uncovers the keys to one of the
greatest mysteries of all time… and he becomes
a hunted man.
What really caught us in this story is that there
have been throughout the last millennia, men
and women searching for the truth and wanting
to see the balance between the genders
restored and for the 'Sacred Feminine' to find
her rightful place. Their willingness to make
sacrifices to guard the sacred knowledge they
had is extraordinary. One of those organizations
featured in this book is called the
Priory of Sion - a European secret society founded
in 1099, which had illustrious members
such as Sir Isaac Newton, Sandro Botticelli,
Victor Hugo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Some of
them have passed on their knowledge through
hidden symbology in their expressions of art,
in which the mystery of what Mary Magdalene represented in 'his (or
her) story' plays an
important part.
Dan Brown puts
it very well in relation to a question about the empowerment, which
can be felt towards women from the book. "
Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world
of Gods and Goddesses. Today we live in a
world solely of Gods. Women in most cultures
have been stripped of their spiritual power.
The novel touches on questions of how and
why this shift occurred… and on what lessons
we might learn from it regarding our future."
This
book is published by Bantam Press, a division of Transworld Publishers.
ISBN 0593 052447.
Buy
this book through Amazon.co.uk The
Da Vinci Code
or
Amazon.com
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