THE WHODUNIT WANDERER, DR. MANJIRI PRABHU*
Google says a Hodophile is someone who loves to travel, a term derived from the Greek words “hodos” (path) and “philos” (love). And Xenophile is someone who is attracted to and loves to learn about other cultures. So, I guess I am a bit of both. And this became very obvious when I visited Oxford University in March 2024. I had been invited for the Oxford Literary Festival, to talk about my destination thriller “Legend of the Snow Queen’. It was my first time at Oxford, but the moment I ascended at the bus station Gloucester Greene and cut across the University town to Exeter College, I experienced a strange sense of déjà vu…like I had known this place forever….
The strong feeling of meeting an old love and rekindling my passion for the place, persisted all through the trip. And it wasn’t just the tall Spires and large Domes, the clanging of Cathedral bells, the cobbled streets, the Harry Potter kind of stunning architecture, curvy lanes, and innumerable gothic busts and statues. It was that inherent air of knowledge and a magical charm and energy that greeted you in this ancient space.
I had just completed work on ‘The Mystery of the Portuguese Hearts’ and was pondering my next destination for a thriller. And it was as I stood gazing up at the historic Radcliffe Camera, with the mild sun glinting on its honey-hued stone and a strong breeze lifting my hair, that I knew. It had to be Oxford – the land of writers and academicians but more importantly, the soul of historic beauty and fascinating legends. I knew that I would have to return to do research for the novel, and it was in June that my second trip happened.
The heart of Oxford is the cluster of ancient tall buildings – the Radcliffe Camera and Humphreys’ Bodleian Library with its Bod Square and the Tower of Five Orders rest in the centre of the University, flanked by St. Mary’s Church on one side and the Sheldonian Theatre on the other. Famous colleges like Exeter, Lincoln, Trinity, Magdalen, New College, Christ Church and many more intersperse and share common walls and boundaries with the sprawling, scenic meadows. The Radcliffe Camera may arguably be the most photographed building – it is imposing and eye-catching.
In the words of Emma Carter, one of the main protagonists of the novel – “Radcliffe Camera opened in 1749 and was named after the physician John Radcliffe. In his will, he left money for the purchase of books. In 1850, the university bought the building and that is how it became a part of the Bodleian Libraries. There’s a circular ground floor colonnade, with a reading room on the top – hence the word ‘camera’ – a high-domed ceiling, and an arcade that runs along the perimeter of the circular building, with bookshelves. Some say the Radcliffe Camera is ‘sculpturally expressive and playfully baroque’. Others say it is the centerpiece of Oxford University. I simply call it the heart of Oxford town.”
Oxford University is fondly labelled as the city of the dreaming spires. Long ago, Anglo-Saxons first settled here and the place was known as ‘Oxnaford’. The name comes from the shallow river crossing where the oxen used to pass. Because of its ease of crossing the Thames, the Anglo-Saxons settled around the ford with their animals and thus we got Oxford. But it is St. Frideswide who is venerated as the patron saint of Oxford. She was a Saxon princess and a nun who built a monastery at the “Ox”ford crossing of the river Thames, the first church here during the second half of the 7th century. It is said that Oxford is her legacy, having inspired the foundation of Christ Church College and she is celebrated as the patron saint of the city and the university. Today, Christ Church Cathedral stands where St. Frideswide’s original Anglo-Saxon church stood. Not just that, her shrine rests inside the Cathedral and is the oldest monument of the Cathedral.
Naturally, I found this fascinating and St. Frideswide’s Shrine plays an important role in the novel. Christ Church College and Cathedral, Bodleian Library, Sheldonian Theatre where the official celebrations take place, Blackwell Bookstore, Botanic Garden which is Britain’s oldest garden and many such places form the backbone of the plot. Like characters which lead the story forward.
But it takes more than just a casual visit to these places to be able to feature them in a book. It takes dedicated learning and absorbing of details. I remember walking from 9.00 am to 9.00 pm for days, crossing the length and breadth of the University, strolling along the Cherwell River, which flows as the iconic Oxford Cana,l and tramping by the innumerable meadows, just to soak in the city’s spirit. So that it grew on me. To familiarize and master the crisscross historical streets, inside stories, lifestyle and more.
On the first evening of my visit, two of my friends Anita and Pushpa welcomed me to Oxford with a boat ride down the beautiful Oxford Canal and then a visit to ‘The Lamb & Flag’ pub on St. Giles Street. Like the pub ‘Eagle and the Child’ from across the street, this pub too was once the haunt of the book club ‘Inklings’ with members like C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien. The markers and reminders of the world of literature and Oxford’s writers, throughout the University, were captivating. Perhaps the most popular is the door with the lion and the two sculptures of half-men in St. Mary’s passage, right next to Mary’s Church, which inspired Lewis’s ‘Narnia’. A few days later, I returned to the ‘The Lamb & Flag’ pub for a lemony drink and to reflect quietly on the journey of my own novel.
What is unique about the University is that the Museums and architecture, the Cathedrals and Libraries, meadows and gardens all provided me with ample fodder, elements and creative freedom to blur the lines between reality and fiction – The Science Museum which celebrates the mysterious, displays Einstein’s original working black board with his calculations still on the board. Also, the Natural History Museum, where huge skeletons of dinosaurs stand frozen in time. The fan-vaulted ceiling of the Divinity Hall, which was also used in the filming of a Harry Potter film, added to the climax of the novel. But it is the Pitts River Museum that literally called out to be featured in the novel – a hub of vibrance, a melting pot of the occult, evil, and prophetic and a stunning gathering and exhibition of objects and artefacts, that defined the healing and dealing world culture of energies. What better premise for Re Parkar, my detective who works with energies?
This April, ‘The Grand Oxford Mystery’ was officially launched in the city of its birth, at the Oxford Literary Festival. It was a surreal moment…In that cherished event, I believe that I connected the strongest with the spirit of the city. A Hodophile or Xenophile I may be. But until my creative energy matches the energy of the destination and it chooses me, my novel cannot be born. ‘The Grand Oxford Mystery’ was a proof of bonding energies, a destined journey that Oxford and I both experienced together…. It was the end satisfaction of a mutual dream…
*Dr. Manjiri Prabhu is an award-winning international author, short filmmaker, and the curator & founder/director of two international festivals.
