“Scars sculpted people into who they were. They were scuffs left by sorrow’s fists, and to him, at least, proof of being thoroughly human.”
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi is a devastating novel full of secrets and betrayal. Séverin Montagnet-Alarie owns a grand hotel and costly secrets, a treasure hunter looking to be restored to his rightful place as the head of House Vanth, one of the four Houses in France of the Order of Babel, a secretive society of aristocrats that safeguard magical artefacts, fragments believed to be scattered from the heavens. Years before, when it was time for Séverin’s inheritance test, the results were faked and he was denied his birthright, a cruelty widely assumed to be due to his half-Algerian heritage. This sends Séverin to a life in foster care before he opens his hotel, L’Eden. Now a rich man seeking vengeance, Séverin has amassed a rag-tag team through a system of give-and-take – he provides living accommodations and the opportunity for his team to practice their skills, and in return, they help Séverin hunt down artifacts. Their most recent mission is to acquire the Eye of Horus, a priceless object rumoured to reveal Babel Fragments, a job given to them by the Order of Babel in return for the restoration of Séverin’s role as Patriarch of House Vanth. Aiding Séverin on this mission is Tristan, a foster brother closer than blood with the ability to Forge entire gardens; Enrique, a Filipino-Spanish historian who is clever, bright, and endlessly amused; Zofia, a Polish-Jewish Forger who prefers to deal with machines and math than humans; Hypnos, one of the two remaining heads of Houses under the France faction and a maybe-enemy of Séverin’s; and Laila, a dancer from India who can uncover the secrets that objects hold, while concealing secrets of her own. The quest they undertake is dangerous, leading through elegant ballrooms and the rotting catacombs of France. It is a job that requires intelligence and trust, but with fracturing relationships, information being withheld, and an enemy besting them at every turn, it becomes increasingly difficult for the team to stay alive and stay together long enough to find the Eye of Horus.
“Take what the world owes you by any means necessary. The world has a shit memory. It will never pay its debts unless you force its hand.”
Set to be the first novel in a trilogy, Chokshi once again brings to you a novel infused with magic and fate. Set in 18th century Paris at the time of the Exposition Universelle, this novel takes you on a journey with high-class aristocrats, the seedy underbelly, and the diverse and problematic pasts of each of the characters. Written in third-person and fluctuating from person to person, Chokshi skillfully delivers the individuality of each person, and how their experiences have shaped them into who they are. Hypnos is a product of his privileged upbringing, while Séverin, raised similarly, has been made by betrayal and his seven foster fathers, named for the seven deadly sins. Zofia came to seek her fortune, uninterested in people, but she slowly finds herself drawn closer to Hypnos and Enrique, who came to seek a better life so that he may be free to be himself. Laila is in Paris escaping the judgement of her society and a curse, aided by her late mother’s teachings and her own experiences, even more so now that her relationship with Séverin is becoming increasingly fragile following a night that may or may not constitute a mistake. The prose is elegant and beautiful, perfectly sculpted to match each member of the cast and full of incredibly tangible descriptions of the food, scenery, and the people. Dark, magical, and tricky, this book follows a group of people trying to match their jagged edges and form some semblance of camaraderie in order to solve a deadly treasure hunt, giving you lessons of love, life, and the importance of living for yourself, and no one else.
“But what no one tells you is that even when you decide which world you will live in, the world may not always see you as you would wish. Sometimes it demands that you be so outrageous as to transcend your very skin. You can change your name. Your eye colour. Make yourself a myth and live within it, so that you belong to no one but yourself.”
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