The Two Chambers

by Pedro Puech

All Benjamin wanted, in that year of 1553, was to live his normal life in Ancona, learning the art of medicine from his master. But then came that unexpected messenger, urging them to travel to Rome by request of Michelangelo Buonaroti. A request for medical care, from the famous artist? A trap? Years had passed since the master and himself converted to Catholicism to escape from the inquisitors. Was the Church now chasing converted jews?
The call was, indeed, a trap. The most famous physician of the Papal States was in need of information for his book of anatomy, and could not obtain it by himself. Benjamin would have to search for the answer to the enigma of the functioning of the heart chambers, and his life would be the price of a failure in the quest. The task didn´t look difficult at first. There was a man who knew the answer, and all he had to do was to find that man, get the information and return. But, from the beginning of the search, he learned that he was tracking a fugitive. A man who provoked the hate of two churches. A troublemaker. From Paris to Strasbourg, Charlieu, Lyon and, finally, Geneva, he risked his life in search of an anatomical detail.
THE TWO CHAMBERS is a historical novel, based on the true story of Michael Servetus, discoverer of the physiology of the heart and a martyr who became a symbol of the fight against intolerance and for the free diffusion of ideas. In the atmosphere of the 16th century, it moves from the Sorbonne to the Gimnasium in Strasbourg, the small village of Carlieu and, finally, to its climax at John Calvin´s Geneva. A novel that will keep you involved from the beginning, revealing how scientific progress can be delayed by religions.
A thriller about inquisition, religious intolerance, prison, escape, trial, condemnation and… About the true dimension of the human foolishness.

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2009

About the author

Pedro Puech is a writer and a surgeon, born in São Paulo, Brasil. Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of São Paulo, he began his literary career in 1998 after having published several textbooks on surgery and scientific papers. His first novel was "The letter from Ragusa, published in Portuguese by Mantiqueira Editors. The historical novel "The Two Chambers" is his greatest success. The book was first published in Portuguese under the title "O Unitário" (The Unitarian), and translated to English in 2011.
Pedro Puech lives in São Paulo with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Ruth Chatlien · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard that The Two Chambers told the story of Michael Servetus, I was anxious to read it. Servetus (also known as Servet) is a little-known figure from the Reformation, whose tale I had encountered as an editor of history textbooks. In my opinion, Pedro Puech made a clever choice in turning the story into a thriller. The narrator of the tale, Benjamin, is an apprentice to a doctor—both of whom are Jews forced to convert because of the Inquisition. Benjamin particularly fears discovery because of his family’s fate. An unscrupulous person who wants to write a new anatomy book threatens the doctor’s safety to force Benjamin to try to find Servetus—who, according to rumor, has discovered the secret of how the human heart works. From that point on, the novel becomes a combination detective story and travelogue. Benjamin journeys from city to city trying to track down his quarry, each destination more dangerous for him than the last. The story kept my interest from beginning to end, even though I already knew what would happen to Servetus. The story tackles some interesting moral questions without being dry or didactice. Disclosure: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Juliette Godot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved PEDRO PUECH's story of the perils of being a freethinker during the Inquisition. The story, as told by a young Jewish physician, chronicles the quest of learning why the heart has two chambers. In a time when questioning how the body works, other than by the divine hand of God, was considered heresy, and printing such a book, a death sentence, PUECH shows how Calvinists and Catholics actually worked together to rid the world of anyone who questions their authority. The pictures of the principal characters in the end jolts the reader to the realization that this story, though fictionalized, surely has many real components.