John Glynn's first novel, The Lost Book of Lancelot, is a beautiful foray into Arthurian legend from the point of view of one of its most notorious but less explored characters, Lancelot.
Glynn (Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer) begins Lancelot's story on the Isle of Women, where he is being raised, nameless, by a mysterious and magical sisterhood. He is the only man or boy allowed to reside there, until the handsome Galehaut is brought to train with him to become knights. Lancelot discovers his name, his family, his true love, and the prophecies about him from the great Merlin--prophecies Lancelot wishes to reject--but fate has other plans.
Despite his best efforts, he finds himself at Camelot, grief-ridden. He is in the service of King Arthur, growing close with Queen Guinevere, and trying to prove himself worthy of knighthood among the Round Table, and of the quest for the grail especially, amid the encroachment on the kingdom and its allies by Roman legionnaires. But little about Camelot, or even about who holds true power in this world, is straightforward. The more Lancelot learns about Camelot, Merlin, and even the isle he once called home, the more complicated matters become. The Lost Book of Lancelot creates space to consider the tensions between love, fate, and control of one's own destiny, and how all of these to an extent require fully knowing and accepting one's self.
Glynn's queering and expansion of the tale is thoroughly researched and knowledgeably done. Glynn finds the opportunities in historical texts such as the Vulgate Cycle and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in order to reinvigorate these stories and characters in a way that feels modern but also fits seamlessly into the wider body of Arthuriana and existing adaptations. Readers will meet characters they think they know well, as well those pulled from historical ephemera, in this exquisitely layered novel that emphasizes the relationships between these people as even more important than their myths. The Lost Book of Lancelot is astounding in its perspective on a legendary time through the lens of various forms of love, including first love and the deepest friendships. Glynn imagines a more multifaceted past underneath the familiar story. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: John Glynn's debut is a refreshing, enchanting queering of the life of Lancelot, reinventing Camelot in a way that manages to feel both new and familiar.