La Belle Sauvage

Did You Know?

• A stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery, directed by Nicholas Hytner, opened at the Bridge Theatre London on 7 December 2021 and closed on 26 February 2022.
• The adaptation was originally scheduled for July 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Hytner had previously directed the original National Theatre adaptation of His Dark Materials.

Setting

The story takes place in a world ruled by the Magisterium, an international theocracy that suppresses heresy. Humans have external souls called dæmons, sentient animal companions. A key device is the alethiometer, or symbol reader; only six exist. By setting three hands to symbols on a dial, a skilled user can pose questions answered by a fourth hand.

Plot

Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon Asta live near Oxford, working at his parents' inn, The Trout, and helping at the Priory of St. Rosamund. Soon after, an infant named Lyra arrives there. Malcolm finds a secret message intended for Hannah, an Oxford alethiometer specialist secretly aiding Oakley Street against the Magisterium. Hannah retrieves the message and befriends Malcolm, who assists her intelligence work.

At school, students are urged to join the League of St. Alexander and report dissent. Coram van Texel, also of Oakley Street, investigates Marisa Coulter in Sweden; she seeks Lyra's location. Coram fights a man with a hyena dæmon, wounding its leg. Lyra's father Lord Asriel visits the inn, borrows Malcolm's canoe La Belle Sauvage, and returns it improved.

Coram warns of a flood, but Malcolm cannot persuade others. Gerard Bonneville, with a three-legged hyena dæmon, arrives and spies on the priory.

Publication history

Pullman conceived The Book of Dust before Lyra's Oxford (2003), originally as a single volume. Writing began by 2005, but by 2011 he considered splitting it into two volumes. In February 2017, he announced it had become a companion trilogy. La Belle Sauvage was released on 19 October 2017 by David Fickling Books in the UK and Alfred A. Knopf in the US.

Reception

The novel received positive reviews. Marina Warner in The Guardian called it worth the wait and old-fashioned and comfy. The Independent described it as an extended preface, thrillingly entertaining and beautifully written. The Washington Post praised it as worth a 17-year wait. The A.V. Club said it stands on its own as a beguiling work of fantasy. The New York Times noted flat dialogue and pacing but acknowledged wonder. The Spectator found it enjoyable as a tale of flight and pursuit but criticized Pullman's aim to see off Christianity and the metaphysical ideas as the least successful part.