Mary novik biography

2007 novel by the Mary Novik

Conceit is a novel by the Canadian author Mary Novik, published in 2007 by Doubleday Canada.

Set in 17th century London, Conceit is the story of Pegge Donne,^[1] the daughter of the metaphysical poetJohn Donne, a contemporary of Shakespeare.

Mary novik biography

Other fictional characters based on historical people^[2] are Donne's wife Ann More, the diarist Samuel Pepys, the fisherman Izaak Walton and, appearing briefly, Christopher Wren. Both old and new St Paul's Cathedral (of which Donne was Dean, 1621-1631) and the Great Fire of London 1666 feature in the novel, which has been praised for bringing London vividly to life.^[3][4] The story is told from the point of view of several characters, including Pegge and her parents Ann and John Donne.

Featured in the narrative are Donne's love poems, his Devotions, and his sermons—in particular, Death's Duel, a sermon the moribund Donne preached to Charles I. The