Those interested in the Rennes le Chateau mystery will no doubt be interested to hear of a new book out there, which is making waves in the research community. City of Secrets (Amazon UK) tells the story of Patrice Chaplin (daughter-in-law of Charlie Chaplin no less):
In the fifties, a fifteen-year-old girl escapes from her dull, English life to the sun-drenched cobbles of provincial Europe. When she falls in love with an ancient but otherwise unremarkable bourgeois town she falls, too, for its favourite son….She meets strange and wonderful people – including Jean Cocteau and Umberto Eco – and hears tales of visions, a phenomenally wealthy priest, a fabulous garden and a beautiful Frenchwoman.
Cast as the detective in her own story, and in a series of dramatic twists and turns, the woman finds herself at the heart of a world she barely knew existed. People she has known for over fifty years, members of a secret society set up to protect Abbe Sauniere’s legacy, are asking her to act as their messenger. She must take some of their most important secrets, and make them known. This is her story, and their secrets revealed. Rich with photographs, letters and historical documents, it fills in key gaps in one of the most compelling mysteries of all time.
For more information about the book, check out the summary page on Andrew Gough’s Arcadia website, and also Filip Coppens’ take on it at the Societe Perillos website. And if that isn’t enough, then you’ll definitely have to check out Andrew Gough’s exclusive 17 Questions interview with the author, Patrice Chaplin.
