In Bologna, among the medieval streets, churches of all sizes and the almost womb-like closed atmosphere of the arcades, as Ana calls them, characters and places emerged that changed from the novel I started reading on a low-cost Ryanair trip. In the Spanish School, or Santo Stefano, with its seven churches together, I could see the two Cármenes, Deo, Isabel, Uta, Susana and Ana, shining like possible mysterious characters; it was a feeling that was amplified in the thick fog of Ferrara.
In La tavern de Silos (Tusquets, 2023), signed under the pseudonym Lorenzo G. Acebedo, its author transforms fictional episodes of Berceo’s life into literature, making him the main character of his story and flavoring it with real events. Evaluation of Spanish as a vehicle language (p.28); or that San Millán, abbot of his monastery, asked him to write the life of St. Dominic of Silos.
So, after a series of readings of so-called “high literature,” I walked into the bookstore demanding something fun and easy: “I’m going to Bologna from the convention and need something like this for the plane.” Pepa the bookseller said to me “Buff!” he replied. It seems that what is not condensed is not condensed. But he told me he was finishing his book, The Silos Tavern, about detectives in the Castilian Middle Ages, which looked good and was much lighter than its counterparts. I had already read a book for the trip. Needs have been met.
The story offers a classic structure, told by 70-year-old Berceo, encouraging existential, social and historical reflections and recalling a specific episode in his life when he had to travel from Santo Domingo to Santo Domingo when he was young. Millán set out on a secret mission to establish cooperation between two Benedictine monasteries under the pretext of writing the life of the saint. But he soon meets the three main characters of this story: Lope, a crazy drifter who is Gonzalo’s counterpoint; Father Garci, a cantankerous monk bent on intrigue; and Elo, the innkeeper and the central piece of the mystery that remains to be solved, since the first victims soon appear.
This narrative thread is contextually enriched by adjacent themes such as the traditional contributions of the monastic economy: wine production, how to make good, the export and commercialization of the Tempranillo grape from Logroño to the Silos: “it strengthens the blood, soothes accusations and fuels the imagination like embers of the wind” (p. 170); information about errors in manuscripts (p. 208); relationships established in taverns; the lack of culture of Castilian nobles who did not have books in their homes (p. 137); intermediary issues related to money (p. 201-202); or consideration of women: ” “Trying to know what a woman will do is like trying to predict which direction a bird will fly from a tree branch” (p.197).
Although it is a story in which Berceo is an experienced detective, everything focuses on negative criticism of monastic life: “Where men are lonely and troubled by delusions of chastity” (p. 230). Monastic autarky is defended against papal centralism (p.38) and feudalism is criticized (p.127). Hence the attempt to form an alliance between the two monasteries, which had always seen the church as the economic and power centre, and where ‘tourism’ had become big business. As in our case, if it weren’t for Ryanair we’d be packing suitcases with everything Bologna had to offer, and these would be reduced to tightly packed Christmas stockings for the whole family that fit into the essential cabin luggage. Ah! And a blown glass ball that miraculously arrived from Ferrara almost intact and hangs on my tree.
So why should you read this novel? Due to the comprehensive will of its author, as it is a detective novel, it is informative, historical, social and honest in its claims; because everything comes together perfectly and it’s fun and fresh because the humor is so present. And because it’s a way to “degrease” the literary doldrums of 2023 and start the year lighter. Have a happy and successful 2024!