Welcome to Garry O’Connor’s website, where you can learn more about Chaucer’s Triumph, his new novel, published by Petrak Press, and available now.
Here is the latest review of this novel:
Chaucer’s Triumph
The year is 1399, and John of Gaunt is dead. His body is laid out for all to see in chapels across England for forty days to earn his soul’s redemption. The final four days provide the backdrop for O’Connor’s vibrant adventure. Adam Scriven, Chaucer’s scaly, red-faced, narrow-minded scribe, is brought to life. He is determined to uncover the truth behind a dropped court charge of ‘rape’ (still debated today by scholars as either meaning rape or abduction) brought against Chaucer twenty years before the novel began. Scriven’s belief in his noble cause and his willingness to believe the worst of people show him without compassion, but numerous shocking events and political machinations he witnesses are testament to the fact that no one is capable of complete disinterested goodness or virtue. The ever-present stench of John of Gaunt’s corpse reflects the moral and physical corruption that pervades their society.
Those who have not studied Chaucer’s works should not be deterred. O’Connor skilfully weaves Chaucer’s tales and poems into the novel as Chaucer teaches Adam about the nature of men and women, and of the many compromises that one must endure to survive in the cut-throat political world of the nobility and their servants. Narration is shared by many characters, creating a cacophony of voices in the first part of the book, but becomes more focused by mid-point. The voices of Chaucer, Scriven, and Chaucer’s sister-in-law Katherine Swynford are particularly strong, and their characters are interesting and well-developed. O’Connor’s greatest achievement is his warm, wise, and humorous portrayal of the poet Chaucer. All of the vibrancy revealed in Chaucer’s works flows through O’Connor’s portrayal, and the reader will look forward to every chapter narrated by the poet.
Warm, wise, and humorous portrayal of the poet Chaucer…Chaucer’s Triumph is indeed a triumph, and one worth sharing.
Catherine A. Perkins, The Historical Novel Society
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