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</style><table class="infobox ib-book vcard"><caption class="infobox-title"><i>The Secret Knowledge</i> </caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><div class="infobox-caption">First edition</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Andrew_Crumey" title="Andrew Crumey">Andrew Crumey</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Cover artist</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Diego_Rivera" title="Diego Rivera">Diego Rivera</a> - <i>Retrato de Adolfo Best Maugard</i> - 1913</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Literary_Fiction" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary Fiction">Literary Fiction</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Published</th><td class="infobox-data">2013</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Dedalus_Books" title="Dedalus Books">Dedalus Books</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Media type</th><td class="infobox-data">Paperback, e-book</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">

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</style><bdi>9781909232563</bdi></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><i><b>The Secret Knowledge</b></i> (2013) is the seventh <a href="Novel_in_Scotland" title="Novel in Scotland">novel by Scottish</a> writer <a href="Andrew_Crumey" title="Andrew Crumey">Andrew Crumey</a>. It was his first since returning to his original UK publisher <a href="Dedalus_Books" title="Dedalus Books">Dedalus Books</a>, and was awarded a grant by the <a href="Arts_and_Humanities_Research_Council" title="Arts and Humanities Research Council">Arts and Humanities Research Council</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-auto-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Part of the writing was done while the author was visiting fellow at the <a href="Institute_of_Advanced_Study_(Durham)" title="Institute of Advanced Study (Durham)">Institute of Advanced Study</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-auto-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was longlisted for the <a href="The_Guardian" title="The Guardian">Guardian's</a> "Not the Booker" prize.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Synopsis">Synopsis</h2></div>

<p>In 1913, composer Pierre Klauer envisages marriage to his sweetheart and fame for his new work, The Secret Knowledge. Then tragedy strikes. A century later, concert pianist David Conroy hopes the rediscovered score might revive his own flagging career. Music, history, politics and philosophy become intertwined in a multi-layered story that spans a century. Revolutionary agitators, <a href="Holocaust" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust">Holocaust</a> refugees and sixties’ student protesters are counterpointed with artists and entrepreneurs in our own age of austerity. All play their part in revealing the shocking truth that Conroy must finally face – the real meaning of The Secret Knowledge.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Themes">Themes</h2></div>

<p>Some of the action is set in Scotland at the time of the <a href="Battle_of_George_Square" title="Battle of George Square">Battle of George Square</a>. Other parts are set in France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United States.

</p><p>Specific reference is made to the socialist <a href="Louis-Auguste_Blanqui" class="mw-redirect" title="Louis-Auguste Blanqui">Louis-Auguste Blanqui</a>, and the philosophers <a href="Walter_Benjamin" title="Walter Benjamin">Walter Benjamin</a>, <a href="Theodor_Adorno" class="mw-redirect" title="Theodor Adorno">Theodor Adorno</a> and <a href="Hannah_Arendt" title="Hannah Arendt">Hannah Arendt</a>, who appear as characters in the novel. A chapter set on <a href="Capri" title="Capri">Capri</a> and based on Benjamin's love for <a href="Asja_L%C4%81cis" title="Asja Lācis">Asja Lacis</a> is written in the collage style of <a href="One_Way_Street_(book)" title="One Way Street (book)">One Way Street</a>. Benjamin's suicide at <a href="Portbou" title="Portbou">Portbou</a> is also made part of the plot.

</p><p>The novel is, in part, concerned with the concepts of the <a href="Multiverse" title="Multiverse">multiverse</a> and <a href="Quantum_suicide" class="mw-redirect" title="Quantum suicide">quantum suicide</a>, which have featured in previous novels by Crumey, and in articles and conference talks.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

Reference is made to motifs from Crumey's earlier novels, particularly the Rosier Corporation which appeared in <i><a href="Mobius_Dick" title="Mobius Dick">Mobius Dick</a></i>. The missing wife of pianist David Conroy (called Laura) appears to be the same character of that name, who appeared in <i>Mobius Dick</i> and is referenced again in <a href="The_Great_Chain_of_Unbeing" title="The Great Chain of Unbeing">The Great Chain of Unbeing</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Reception">Reception</h2></div>

<p><a href="Publishers_Weekly" title="Publishers Weekly">Publishers Weekly</a> called it an "intelligent work of speculative fiction" with "heavy-handed melodrama" in places, but said "the philosophical questions the book raises are clever and insightful."<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Reviewing it for the <a href="Historical_Novel_Society" title="Historical Novel Society">Historical Novel Society</a>, Lucinda Byatt wrote: "Whether this qualifies as historical fiction is a moot point: it’s set in multiple pasts... Described as an “intellectual mystery”, the book explores the illusion of progress in history, perhaps also in our individual lives, a tribute to <a href="Walter_Benjamin" title="Walter Benjamin">Benjamin’s</a> own theories. Interestingly, the women are the most coherent and linear characters: Yvette and Paige, in particular, but even the historical figure, <a href="Hannah_Arendt" title="Hannah Arendt">Hannah Arendt</a>, who appears in the book alongside <a href="Theodor_Adorno" class="mw-redirect" title="Theodor Adorno">Theodor Adorno</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><a href="The_Sunday_Herald" class="mw-redirect" title="The Sunday Herald">The Sunday Herald</a> reviewer Lesley McDowell called it a "novel of ideas... more accessible than some may expect, and more gripping and more encompassing, too."<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>James Smart wrote in <a href="The_Guardian" title="The Guardian">The Guardian</a>, "With its enthusiasm for secret societies and acts that echo through time, <i>The Secret Knowledge</i> mines the fruitful ground between <a href="Cloud_Atlas_(novel)" title="Cloud Atlas (novel)">Cloud Atlas</a> and <a href="Foucault's_Pendulum" title="Foucault's Pendulum">Foucault's Pendulum</a>, but fails to reach the heights of either. The dialogue can be tooth-wrenchingly annoying... but some scenes – a febrile union meeting, a loaded meeting between rival pianists – are wonderful."<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-auto-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-auto_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-auto_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Acknowledgement in book.</span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140810165818/https://www.dur.ac.uk/ias/fellows/1011/crumey/">"Institute of Advanced Study : Dr Andrew Crumey - Durham University"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/ias/fellows/1011/crumey/">the original</a> on 10 August 2014<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 July</span> 2014</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5929-D7Y1-DYN2-3007-00000-00&context=1519360">"Sam Jordison. (August 5, 2013 Monday). Not the Booker prize: Here's the longlist, now vote for the shortlist. Guardian.com"</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dedalusbooks.com/our-books/book.php?id=00000243">"The Secret Knowledge by Andrew Crumey : Our Books :: Dedalus Books, Publishers of Literary Fiction"</a>. <i>Dedalusbooks.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">27 June</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://aeon.co/essays/can-the-multiverse-explain-the-course-of-history">"Can the multiverse explain the course of history? – Andrew Crumey | Aeon Essays"</a>. <i>Aeon.co</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">27 June</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221322/http://www.crumey.toucansurf.com/quantum_suicide.html">"Andrew Crumey: Stories and Essays"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.crumey.toucansurf.com/quantum_suicide.html">the original</a> on 3 March 2016<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 July</span> 2014</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-909232-45-7">"Publishers Weekly"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">26 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-secret-knowledge/">"Historical Novel Society: review by Lucinda Byatt"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">26 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/13113720.paperbacks/">"Sunday Herald, July 14, 2013: review by Lesley McDowell"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">26 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/16/secret-knowledge-andrew-crumey-review">"The Guardian, 16 August 2013, review by James Smart"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">26 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite></span>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/secretknowledge0000crum"><i>The Secret Knowledge</i> at the Internet Archive</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://workshyfop.blogspot.com/2013/08/its-theory-of-history-others-are.html">Workshy Fop: interview with Andrew Crumey</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://theasylum.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/andrew-crumey-the-secret-knowledge/">Asylum: review by John Self</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://jackdeighton.co.uk/2016/01/21/the-secret-knowledge-by-andrew-crumey/">A Son of the Rock: review by Jack Deighton</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://mondyboy.com/?p=6250">The Hysterical Hamster: review</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://1streading.wordpress.com/category/andrew-crumey-2/">1streading: review</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bookmunch.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/if-you-like-your-books-weird-and-challenging-and-philosophical-the-secret-knowledge-by-andrew-crumey/">Bookmunch: review</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dedalusbooks.com/our-books/reviews.php?id=00000243">Review extracts (publisher website)</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17331714-the-secret-knowledge">Goodreads.com</a></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

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