Review: Irina

Philip Warren, Irina (The PineLands Company 2021)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58238779-irina?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=H8lp71yPsF&rank=3

A deliciously complex story, illuminating a fascinating period of history

1378 Poznan. Irina steps past the burning flesh on ulica Zydowska (Jewish Street) her eyes locking for one last time with her beloved Berek Joselewicz. She places her fingers on her belly, and he smiles. Velka and the dog Yip are the only survivors. Two of the attackers, Tomasz and Franciszek, are from Duke Zygmunt’s household.
The Kwasniewskis once were wealthy, but her parents Ignacz and Maria were poor, with many mouths to feed. Since the age of 12, working for Panie (Mrs) Eva Joselewicz in Poznan, she has had warmer boots to wear. Panie Eva had told Irina of a secret hiding place, and she retrieves the Joselewicz gold.
Duke Zygmunt sends his squire Jan Brezchwa to summon Father Madrosh. There is news from Gniezno. Black Death. ‘Some blame it on the Jews,’ he said. Madrosh scoffs, but the man continues, ‘It is said they poison our wells.’ Madrosh argues, ‘the Jews die of Plague, just as we do.’
The king of France has called all the nobility of Europe to convene in Paris. Dressed in Panie Eva’s rich clothing, with Velka posing as the lady’s maid, they join Duke Zygmunt’s party.
Their travels are interrupted by the imperialist designs of King Louis I of Hungary and Poland, as well as the vengeful ambitions of Tomasz. Duke Zygmunt and Margrave Wenceslas trap the invading Hungarians in a bloodbath at Krosno.
Irina marries squire Jan Brezchwa, and they raise Irina’s son Shashu and begin a successful furniture dealership in Giverny.
Along the way Irina doubts her faith, and Madrosh gives religious instruction–a clever device, by which we rehearse the theological beliefs debates of the period, though perhaps it went on a bit long—across many, many chapters. Understandably, Irina questions the meaning of good and evil, having seen the violence against the Jews of Poznan and that meted out to the Hungarians at Krosno, but did we really need to read everything St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas argued? The lengthy treatise might have been better placed in a novel about churchmen or philosophers. The long voyage to Paris also gives us time to learn a bit of the complicated history and politics of mediaeval Poland and Hungary.
At first, it was hard to get into, as, while we’re still unfamiliar with the story, the Irina plotline and the Duke Zygmunt plotline jump back and forth too quickly. It doesn’t give us time to absorb the information. The story alternates throughout between Irina’s youth and old age, which is also confusing.
The writing quality and the editing are good, and the research involved was admirable. This is a complex story, with multiple interconnecting plotlines, and one with many characters—too many—with names we need to learn how to pronounce, but the complexity, once you learn the multiple characters, is delicious.