A youthful man, apparently English, who claims to be 274 years of age approaches an American anthropologist in modern Bangkok, Thailand. Though the scholar cannot believe this assertion, the Englishman displays his torso covered with elaborate magickal tattoos, and then demonstrates inexplicable supernatural powers by vanishing in the blink of an eye. He leaves behind a flash-drive that contains his story. According to his account, John Nathaniel Perch, the purported author, was born in 1736 at Ayutthaya, the capital city of the mysterious Far Eastern kingdom then called Siam.
The novel is John’s story told in third person. In its heyday, the fabulous city of Ayutthaya, built on a river island, boasts 360 gold-covered stupa spires, an immense royal palace for the divine King of Siam, plus an adjacent palace just for the sacred white elephants. Though considered a "hidden and forbidden" kingdom, the capital Ayutthaya also hosts communities of Europeans who represent the various Occidental East India Companies. Unknown to John's birth mother, the native women of the household conduct a traditional rite to appease a spirit of infant mortality called the Purchasing Mother. The rite seems to be successful, however it is only partly so.
John grows up as a self-indulgent and unmotivated young man. After his mother Cynthia is widowed, rather than return to England, she chooses to marry the Frenchman, Bruno Therieux, a childhood friend who has always adored her. Bruno, who has tutored John and long been a friend and mentor, becomes his stepfather. When an old friend from Paris, now Father Titus of the Jesuits visits on his way to China, events are set in motion that will lead to the destruction of the city. Beset by the Purchasing Mother who has returned for him despite his maturity, John loses his temper with Bruno and becomes alienated, much to the distress of both men.
Moving from his parents’ house, the young man lives in a brothel and becomes addicted to opium. The persistent demon returns stronger than ever seeking to claim him after all. His only hope lies in acquiring magickal tattoos that cover his entire body, believed to provide extraordinary powers. So he undergoes the ordeal of acquiring the “sua yantra”and is transformed. In his case, the ability to become invisible and the invulnerability promised prove surprisingly real, and he is able to see into the animistic Spirit World of the ancient native culture. Persuaded to move back into his parents’ home as the final Burmese invasion closes in, John marries a Chinese woman named Jao Jing-li whom he truly loves. Soon she becomes pregnant with his child.
When the Burmese besiege the city in a final conquest, John helps his stepfather in a valiant attempt to rescue an elderly royal friend who lives on the island, and the invading army captures John. Jing-li leaves the compound in search of him, and the Burmese capture her. In a prison camp for slaves she dies giving birth to twins, the second of which survives. Other women manage to secretly get the child out of the camp into safe hands.
Even as the city is being annihilated in 1767, the Burmese must withdraw because the Chinese Emperor has invaded their own kingdom from the north. As John is marched towards slavery in Burma among thousands of Siamese captives, he looks for an opportunity to use his powers in order to liberate his fellow slaves. At last the Purchasing Mother appears to him and instead of loathing, he views her with compassion as a tragic figure. He realizes that she may not be so evil after all. She urges him to do what he can for his fellow captives. He succeeds by the full employ of his powers and turns the slavers’ weapons against them, though the experience becomes a tortured memory thereafter.
John’s whereabouts remain unknown to his agonized parents, who at last reluctantly plan to depart from Ayutthaya forever. Finally he leaves them a letter and makes his survival known to them, with a promise that after they return to Europe he will visit them when his own young son is old enough for such a journey. He survives into the present day and decides that he must tell his extraordinary tale.
John Nathaniel Perch (b. 1736 -- )
(To read the Introduction and Chapters One and Two of The Purchasing Mother's Son click HERE.)
Three Novels of 18th Dynasty Egypt:
(Planned for 2014-17)
Horizon of the Heart tells the story of Nefertiti and Akhenaten, the royal rebels of ancient Egypt who followed their own hearts spiritually to create the first known intentional, spiritual community in the world, called Horizon of the Disk. This remarkable couple were a sort of "John and Yoko" of ancient times, and their love and legacy changed the world forever, from that place now known as Amarna at the literal heart center of Egypt. Not only spiritual radicals, they also transformed the purpose of art from a formalized abstraction to realism that honored the beauty of Nature. This novel brings these people and their lives to full life for the first time in over three thousand years!
A Prayer for the King depicts life in the city of Akhetaten (Horizon of the Disk) from the viewpoint of commoners, in this case two soldiers and the women they love. When Nefertiti and Akhenaten banished the many gods from Egypt, and abandoned the traditional capital at Thebes for their newly-built city, the people outside of their immediate following have no idea of what is really happening. The King's mother, the beautiful and strong Dowager Queen Tiy rules on behalf of her royal children. Akhenaten writes the amazing "Hymn to Aten," which is among the most beautiful and profound prayers ever written. Despite many enlightened and noble aspects of this radical spiritual experiment, it challenges entrenched beliefs too directly to survive for long . . .
Window of Appearances -- Following the disappearance of Nefertiti and Akhenaten, their children, Tutankhamun and Ankhsenamun are used to restore the older worship of the many gods to the Two Lands. No more than children when they are placed upon the throne of Egypt by the powerful Vizier Ay and his ally General Horemheb. Tutankhamun and Ankhsenamun are beautiful young people, however he suffers delicate health and had a club foot, while she is all too aware of the constant danger to their lives from their supposed care-takers. This story of a brief yet incredibly intense love is now revealed to the world for the first time in all its poignance and ultimate triumph.
