Fiction: "Angelology: A Novel," by Danielle Tussoni
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Memoirist Danielle Trussoni's gorgeous writing, fantastic imagination and familiarity with biblical and mythological texts are on splendid display in this her first novel, an ambitious adventure story complete with epic battles between good and evil, a decades-long search for a treasure that promises immortality and social commentary about class conflict.
Ms. Trussoni drew critical praise with "Falling Through the Earth," her memoir of growing up in La Crosse, Wis., with a dad suffering from the trauma of the Vietnam War.
Viking ($27.95)
Now, with "Angelology," Ms. Trussoni storms into the fiction arena, successfully muscling into the world of the "Da Vinci Code," vampire novels and heart-pounding Indiana Jones-like treasure hunts. Only, she does so with a literary style and brainy interpretations from her readings of the Bible, the Book of Enoch, the myth of Orpheus and Milton's visions in "Paradise Lost."
Ms. Trussoni takes her cue from Genesis 6:4:
"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them."
These are the tall, blue-eyed Nephilim, half-human, half-angel, fathered by heaven's fallen angels. Rich, powerful, with lives that span centuries, the Nephilim retract their splendid wings into their backs and live among humans.
Cruel and without conscience, they seed war and attempt to destroy the good in humanity. The secret Society of Angelologists, working in Europe for thousands of years and in the United States after World War II, try to stop these beautiful creatures.
The novel opens in a convent in New York's Hudson River Valley, where 23-year-old Sister Evangeline cares for artifacts, books and archives in the old convent library. She was 12 when her father left her at St. Rose Convent after her mother was killed as a spy. Now, in 1999, she finds a 1943 letter from philanthropist Abby Rockefeller to the convent's mother superior.
Evangeline soon finds herself in the midst of a centuries-old battle as the Nephilim, weakened by disease, seek an ancient treasure they believe the nuns have hidden for the Angelologists. As Evangeline becomes entangled in his desperate search, she gradually learns about her own family and the secrets that will haunt her life.
The novelist draws out this tale with masterful pacing, leisurely at first, then building quickly to a searing finale. Her skill in telling this complex story is so admirably deft that you overlook some loose threads and forgive the small coincidences required to make it all work.
Without batting an eye, you allow Ms. Trussoni to let Nephilim warriors dressed in black kill a few Angelologists as skaters mill around the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza. No one raises an alarm. It is, after all, New York City.
One cannot help being seduced by this unusual, imaginative literary thriller. Expect more. The film is optioned and she is working on a sequel.
First Published March 28, 2010 12:00 am
