The Pope's Rhinoceros

By: Lawrence Norfolk

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Synopsis: &“The acclaimed author of Lemprière&’s Dictionary furnishes another richly textured romp steeped in history, legend, and excitement.&” —Booklist The Pope&’s Rhinoceros is a vivid, antic, and picaresque novel spun around one of history&’s most bizarre chapters: the sixteenth-century attempt to procure a rhinoceros as a bribe for Pope Leo X. In February 1516, a Portuguese ship sank off the coast of Italy. The Nostra Senora de Ajuda had sailed fourteen thousand miles from the Indian kingdom of Gujarat. Her mission: to bribe the &“pleasure-loving Pope&” into favoring expansionist Portugal over her rival Spain with the most exotic and least likely of gifts — a living rhinoceros. Moving from the herring colonies of the Baltic Sea to the West African rain forest, with a cast of characters including an order of reclusive monks and Rome&’s corrupt cardinals, courtesans, ambassadors, and nobles, The Pope&’s Rhinoceros is at once a fantastic adventure tale and a portrait of an age rushing headlong to its crisis. &“An exhausting banquet of a book . . . One of the most original, energetic, and ambitious novels of recent years.&” —Kirkus Reviews &“Mr. Norfolk&’s heady originality and intellectual energy are apparent on every page.&” —The New York Times Book Review