…a rib from Eve

Katherine Christensen
Llumina Press (2008)
ISBN 9781595268501
Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (12/08)


I was eager to read “…a rib from Eve” because it is set during the seventh century in Merovingian France and depicts the conflict between the old Celtic religion and Christianity. Many other novels have been written in the last few decades about this conflict, but primarily they are set in the British Isles—many circling around the reign of King Arthur or the life of St. Patrick. “…a rib from Eve” is the first I am familiar with set in France during the reign of the Merovingian kings. The back cover states of the author “Bringing the saga of her female ancestral role models to life is her passion.” I was intrigued by that statement because I have traced my own family tree back to the Merovingian Kings of France, so I wanted to learn more about them, and I found many of my ancestors depicted in the novel.

The novel weaves together a great deal of history, using significant historical characters such as King Dagobert I, but also blending in fictional characters, including his daughter, Malgven, who is at the center of the novel. The novel does not have much of a plot, but rather is the life story of Malgven, from before her birth, describing her parents and their meeting, and then through to Malgven’s death. Throughout the novel, we learn about the politics and culture of Merovingian France, especially the roles of religion and women during this time.

While the entire concept of the novel intrigued me, I found it slow reading. I felt the author was far too descriptive, which affected the pacing. Descriptions of animals’ movements and other superfluous details could have been edited out to provide a faster pace. There was no driving force to the story, no suspenseful issue in the first pages that must be resolved to keep the reader reading. It was less a novel with a proper conflict, than just a story about the characters. However, people interested in history may not mind the lack of conflict in the novel, and they will learn a great deal about the time period depicted. The characters themselves were well-developed, likeable, and their motivations clearly defined so they never acted out of character.

While the novel was well-researched, I felt the research often got in the way of the story, the excessive details often weighing it down. The novel contains nearly three-hundred footnotes, which I found distracting. Footnotes don’t belong in novels. Most of them were unnecessary; the meanings mostly clear in the text as they should have been. The author provides a list of all the characters with brief facts, but I found it difficult to refer to this list because the characters were not listed alphabetically. While the characters listed were historical, very little historical information was provided about them, and instead the author explained how the character was depicted in the novel. I would have preferred an afterword where the author talked about the research she did and the historical facts behind the fiction. What I appreciated more than the historical research itself was how the author wove together several legends and stories so that Malgven’s grandfather is the Wiglaf with the hero Beowulf at the end of his life, and references are made to Melusine and Pressina of legendary fame. Also, Malgven herself, although completely fictional, was placed as a child of a king, who could well have been forgotten by history, yet had many possible sources, including the Malgven who supposedly loved the King of the Bretons.

“…a rib from Eve” by Katherine Christensen is a worthy attempt at a first piece of historical fiction. With some more attention to fiction and less to history, Christensen will be well on her way to providing interesting reading. The novel ends with the hint that a sequel will follow.

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