Knowledge of Angels

Jill Paton Walsh

The book that I enjoyed most in the last couple of months was Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh. It's set on an imaginary island, with the sensibilities of perhaps 13th or 14th century European society. Now, on this island, religion rules every facet of society. Into this story appear two people - a foreign man washed up on the island and rescued by some fishermen and a child abandoned in the wild and reared by wolves. We follow the tales of these two very different characters - one an atheist and one a human who has never known the concept of God as the humans on the island know it. Thus begins the story that threatens to rock the foundations of the religion that holds the island together. I think this story had a strong impact on me mainly because it questions the idea of religion and the instruments of that religion. On the one hand, you have a foreigner who questions the very principles you live by and on the other, you have a chance of proving or disproving that the God really does exist and is innate in every human from birth regardless of circumstances. The characters in the story are archetypes almost, but this works very well within the context of the story. As the story unfolds, you become involved with the characters and the tension builds as you begin to suspect how this is all going to turn out. This is a moral tale, simply told but very effective. Highly recommended.