Labriola, Jerry: The Strange Death of Napoleon Bonaparte

Strong Books © 2008, 340 pages

In his didactic novel The Strange Death of Napoleon Bonaparte, Jerry Labriola tells the unlikely story of a (soon to be ex-) Yale history professor, Paul D'Arneau, who is approached by an enigmatic private organization interested in hiring him to investigate the death of Napoloeon: did the Emperor die of natural causes, or was he murdered? The group's offer is more than generous, a six-figure sum in payment for Paul's investigations, with all expenses paid, and the potential for a million-dollar bonus should he uncover something definitive. Paul accepts the job and spends all of two weeks on the investigation, a whirlwind of travel to Paris, Elba, and St. Helena. He meets with the various members of the group that has engaged him and, per their instructions and with their help (so that one wonders why they needed to hire him at all), he talks to a bunch of "histarians"--a loose confederation of amateur historians who are privy to historical information they refuse for some reason to divulge by phone. There is some element that doesn't want Paul to dig into Napoleon's death, so that his trip is not without its dangers. Still, Paul uncovers the truth in the end. It is hard to believe that anyone would conduct a scholarly investigation in the manner here described, but one can't argue with results.

[INSET TEXT: He meets with the various members of the group that has engaged him and, per their instructions and with their help (so that one wonders why they needed to hire him at all), he talks to a bunch of "histarians"--a loose confederation of amateur historians who are privy to historical information they refuse for some reason to divulge by phone.] Labriola's book is punctuated by explanatory historical texts--excerpts from Paul's notes, for example--which the author himself predicts readers may want to skip. The book's dialogue is unrealistically formal, and the narrative surrounding it is labored:

"Paul inquired about Jean's work and her general well being and apologized for not having done so during earlier calls.

"'My job's never boring so I'll always like it. And except for missing you, I feel fine. Still a little worried, but fine. Take care, Paul; you sound exhausted. Spread things out. Get some rest.'"

As a piece of fiction, The Strange Death of Napoleon Bonaparte does not succeed. It is more of a fictionalized history lesson, and approached as such it might be of interest to readers curious about matters Napoleonic.

Tags: book reviews, books, Jerry Labriola, Napoleon Bonaparte

Comments

[heather (errantdreams)]

1.

That's too bad. I think it's great if people want to get nifty information across through fiction, but it still has to be 'readable' as fiction in order to succeed. That's always one of the hardest lessons for eager new writers to learn, it seems.