“He Gave Up His Soul For Fear”: The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

Written by Kristy Dolson

October is the month of merriment and mystery as we celebrate the end-of-year harvest and brace for winter’s approach. Many cultures also celebrate the border between life and death during this month, and although Halloween has become a commercial festival celebrating candy, costumes, and the macabre, it is still a time to stop and take stock of our lives and ambitions. In the remaining few months of this year, what do you still hope to accomplish?

Perhaps you are part of a literary club that is intent on translating a famous Italian work into English so that the author’s brilliance can be known among the people of your country. But while your club is hard at work, a string of violent and disturbing murders occurs. To your shock and horror, the murderer appears to be taking inspiration from the very work that your club has been toiling over! This is just the case in Matthew Pearl’s historical fiction novel The Dante Club, which follows a group of poets-turned-detectives in their attempts to track down and stop a gruesome murderer.

Due to the novel’s setting – late-1800s Boston, just after the American Civil War – there is not much diversity in the cast of characters. While the main characters who make up the club are real historical figures, the supporting characters are mainly fictional. Women are mere footnotes and the police force has one honorary black officer. It is this officer who takes on the murder case and adds a bit more depth to the novel’s proceedings. With an interesting perspective, he was the character that I became most invested in because he had something to struggle against outside the main murder-mystery plot. Otherwise, I found that the characters were well presented and likeable, but the character interactions are not the main selling points of the novel.

The main selling point is Pearl’s distinct writing style. He gives a lot of attention to historical detail and description, which paints an intricate picture of the time and surroundings. At times, this heavy-handedness can get in the way of the narrative drive, but it is clear in the dialogue and in the actions of the characters that this novel was very well researched. I appreciate when authors take the time and put in the work necessary for gripping historical novels. Sometimes an author will debut with a historical novel and the history part feels very weak, decreasing my ability to get lost inside the story. That is one sin Pearl is not guilty of committing.

So if you enjoy historical literary fiction that is heavy on the literary side and are looking for an interesting crime drama to wind down the year with, then I would highly recommend this novel. It is a slow start, but once the plot kicks in around page 60 it is a very quick and engaging read. And if you have an abundance of time on your hands, why not read the source material, Dante’s Divine Comedy, as well? While I personally have not read the masterwork, I presume that any reader who has would get a lot more out of Pearl’s novel.

In any case, there are still a few months left in the year to finish any outstanding goals. So take a few minutes this October to enjoy the autumnal leaves and ponder what you still yearn to accomplish. You may not stop any murderers, but you can certainly finish a book or two before 2018 comes to an end.

The Author

Kristy Dolson lived in South Korea for five years before taking a year off to travel, read, and spend time with her family in Canada and Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Education and has just moved to Yeosu, where she splits her time between teaching at the new Jeollanamdo International Education Institute and reading as much as she can.