THE WISDOM OF THE FLOCK

In Gnatz’s imaginative work of historical fiction, Benjamin Franklin travels to France to enlist support for a possible war with England and becomes embroiled in political and romantic intrigue.

Just after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Franklin departs for Paris to secure black powder and weapons for a potential war with England, and to win the backing of King Louis XV. Now a widower in his twilight years, Franklin remains an imposing figure; he’s internationally famous and a magnet for female admirers. His romantic thoughts continually drift toward Marianne Davies, a musician he met in London; however, although his feelings for her are strong, he’s anxious about her chronic bouts of severe melancholia, which she grimly refers to as “the darkness.” She receives a controversial treatment from Dr. Mesmer, who’s seen as much as a “wizard” as a physician. His approach—a precursor to hypnosis—provides her with great relief, but Franklin frowns upon it as pseudoscience. Meanwhile, he also falls in love with Minette Helvétius, and though she returns his affections, she’s far too independent to settle down. When Davies travels with Mesmer to Paris—he’s there to treat the queen—it sets the stage not only for a conclusive confrontation regarding Franklin and Davies’ relationship, but also between Franklin and Mesmer regarding the nature of science. Overall, Gnatz paints a vivid portrait of one of the Founding Fathers. However, he presents Franklin’s intellectual duel with Mesmer in a somewhat pedantic fashion. The author’s research is magisterial, however, and a remarkable display of scholarly rigor; although he permits himself great creative license, he never strays too far from the realm of plausibility. Still, the prose style can sometimes be a bit wooden, and the plot unfolds at a glacial pace, slowed by too many gratuitous parentheses that have the effect of making the book feel overlong.

A wonderfully researched but indulgently slow-paced novel.