The art of speculative fiction is to make the impossible believable. Asimov said, you can make one impossible assumption, then keep everything else real. For him, the assumption was faster than light travel. For Florence Weinberg, it’s an evil person exchanging bodies with someone else.

The person doing the Faustian bargain is Anselm, a Benedictine monk of great erudition, but also great arrogance. Many fear him and dislike him. His heart is failing, so he uses a 12th Century lost secret to steal a body, changing places with Eric Behrens, young vain English professor.

I won’t reveal the rest of the plot of course, but instead give you my assessment.

When I read a book, I can’t stop myself from reading like an editor. Many of my reviews lead to 5 pages of “suggestions for improvement” to the author, ranging from identification of major plot glitches to misplaced commas. On a technical level, this book is one of the best I’ve read, with less than a page of such notes.

I am blown away by the characterization. It’s immensely impressive how a female author can BE a man who has been turned into another man, and accurately portray both sets of feelings, emotions, psychological styles of being. Eric-in-Anselm is very real, very human, and admirable precisely because of his faults. His development during the book is completely believable yet impressive. All the minor characters are also three-dimensional, human and unique.

Once I started this book, I just wanted to keep reading, and had to use self-discipline to carry on with my various obligations. Even with such rationing, I completed it in two days. So, if you pick it up, give yourself the opportunity to finish it.

Any good book does far more than entertain. Anselm also educates (I was not surprised that the author has a Ph.D.), and inspires to take a stand in the eternal conflict between Dark and Light. Ultimately, the book is about the ultimate Lesson: only love can defeat evil.

Do yourself a favor and read it.