The Naked Name of Love is an exquisitely written novel of the meeting of east and west, of religious ideals under question in the aftermath of Darwin - and of a love that transcends culture, faith - and ultimately tragedy...
Set in Mongolia, The Naked Name of Love tells the story of Joseph, a young Jesuit priest, who sets out on a quest to discover and bring back rare plants for the British Museum.
His journey takes place against the background of a nineteenth century in the grip of an intellectual revolution as science and evolution begin to sweep aside old certainties.
Travelling across the Eastern Steppes in the company of Mendo, a Buddhist monk and Tsem, a Mongolian horseman, often cold, often hungry and frequently in danger from the roving bands of the sinister White War Lord, Joseph's journey takes him every bit as much inwards to his soul as it does to the heart of this unknown world.
But it is his Namuunaa, the gifted Mongolian shaman woman who saves his life, who will teach him what it is to love - and will change his life for ever.
An exquisitely written novel of the meeting of east and west, of religious ideals under question and of a love that transcends culture, faith and ultimately tragedy. Set in Mongolia, this is the story of Joseph, a young Jesuit priest, who sets out on a quest to bring back rare plants. Joseph's journey takes him every bit as much inwards to his soul as it does to the heart of this unknown world. But it is Namuunaa, the Mongolian woman who saves his life, who will teach him what it is to love and will change his life for ever.
'[O'Connell] has quite an imagination.'
