Copenhagen, 1840 – Fighting to reconcile his obligations with a quest for romance, the eccentric philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, rushes through the cobbled streets, thrusting himself into the arms
of Regine and a disastrous engagement.
Copenhagen, 1855 – Withering away in a hospital bed, Bitter and alone, Kierkegaard conjures up a preposterous scheme. A vendetta against the Bishop of Copenhagen, and a mission to save the
future of love.
Copenhagen, now – Introvert Christian Kardahl, meets devout and mysterious Emma for the first time. Two days later, Christian comes across an old letter aimed to destroy a famous, eccentric philosopher. When a sudden murder is added to the mystery, the past has caught up. Christian and Emma are drawn into an involuntary quest that will make them question their belief in history and, unless they can sort out the puzzle, their faith and love will be forever doomed.
‘Brilliantly written, a bridge between the present and Kierkegaard past’ – Book Reviewer
With a background in musical theatre as both an actor, singer, and dancer, Martin
Svaneborg has spent his teenage and adult life as a storyteller. In 2018, driven mainly by his interest in the history of religion, Martin started studying theology at the University of Copenhagen while
exploring other ways of telling stories as a theatre director, speech coach, and speaker, hence the transition to novel writing felt natural, and his debut novel is a fusion of his growing interest for the
personal life of the philosophers he encountered during his studies and the desire to tell an adventurous love story. Also, he, like Kierkegaard, has a thing for nice, long sentences.
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My thoughts: I remember reading about Kierkegaard when I was studying theology and philosophy, although it was some time ago. So I was intrigued by this book, which moves between Kierkegaard’s life and a modern day mystery.
Christian has become fascinated by an unusual offshoot of Christianity and visits a church that follows this doctrine. There are not many congregants so he stands out as a stranger. He is drawn into a race against time to find the original deeds to the church building and save it from being sold and demolished. He and his new friend Emma need his knowledge of Kierkegaard and her knowledge of the church to solve the mystery.
Once this got going it was really enjoyable, I liked the glimpses into past Denmark and the adventure Christian and Emma find themselves on – hunting for hidden archives in the library and then being tracked to England, where they’re threatened in a church and chased to the airport. It’s all very exciting, gung-ho stuff.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my
ramblingmads 