Son of Nobody: A Novel
by Yann Martel
Son of Nobody by Yann Martel (1/19/2026)
"Son of Nobody" is a book within a book. The story surrounding the story is that of Harlow Donne, a Canadian scholar of unknown credentials who leaves his wife and young daughter behind to study ancient Green papyrus writings around the poem "Iliad" by Homer at Oxford University in England. Instead, purely by chance, he comes across fragments of writings about Psoas, a Greek soldier in the war against Troy. Psoas was a commoner and thus the writings were about the lives of the everyday soldiers during the ten year war. The book jumps between the story of Dunne's personal life, the writings about Psoas, and Donne's postulations about the relationship between the ancient Green writings and the beginnings of Christianity.
Although Martel's intention is to intermarry the story of Psoas with that of Donne, I found the story of Donne's personal life to be an unwelcome intrusion into the story of Psoas.
I have read neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey and remembered nothing about the Greek gods and goddesses from my school days. Thus, I spent a fair amount of time reading background material for this book. Those familiar with Homer's works might find added depth in the saga of Psoas that I missed.
I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it with the above reservations.
