Whit
Whit, a novel by Iain Banks, is told in the voice of Isis Whit, a young but important member of a small, quirky cult in Scotland. Like all of Banks' characters, from Frank Cauldhame in The Wasp Factory to Prentice McHoan in The Crow Road, she's a character in a half-unconscious search for knowledge which will inevitably turn her world upside down.Isis, otherwise The Blessed Very Reverend Gaia-Marie Isis Saraswati Minerva Mirza Whit of Luskentyre, Beloved Elect of God III, is granddaughter and spiritual heir of Salvador Whit, patriarch of the Luskentyrians, who live in a low-tech commune and reject most technology even at great inconvenience to themselves. They also run their lives according to a makeshift collection of beliefs and obsessive little rituals. The heart of the novel intercuts Isis' voyage through southern England, dealing with rastas, policemen, racist skinheads and other dubious characters of a sort she has never encountered, with her recitation of the official history of the cult and the rationale behind its rules.
He had difficulty in
any number of promises failed to reassure her. This jealousy
the advances of the Duc, who already had won the greater part of
Maximilian filled the Court with fetes and celebrations. The King
dance; among them only the Princess de Montpensier could rival
appearance as Moors; their costumes would all be identical, as
which the ballet was presented, the Duc de Guise, before the
to the Princess as he went past her. She saw clearly that the
A little later, seeing the Duc d'Anjou in his mask and Moorish
Duc de Guise and said to him "Do not have eyes for anyone but
ordering you. I am being watched. Do not come near me again." As
successful rival: the reference to Madame made it obvious that
sister was to play second fiddle to the Princess de Montpensier.
already had for the Duc roused him to a violent fury; and he
had not that dissimulation which came naturally to him prevented
He did not, however, refrain from the pleasure of disclosing his
as they left the salon where they had been dancing and said to
stealing the affection of the woman I love is altogether too
just now, but remember that the loss of your life may be, one
impertinence."
The pride of the Duc de Guise was not accustomed to submit tamely
moment the King called both of them to his side. He did not
ways to turn the King against the Duc de Guise. He persuaded the
the King of Navarre as long as the Duc de Guise was allowed to
subject, for his own vain purposes, should place an obstacle.
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