A A Matter of Interpretation

It’s 13-century Europe and a young monk, Michael Scot, has been asked by the Holy Roman Emperor to translate the works of Aristotle and recover his ‘lost’ knowledge. The Scot sets to his task, traveling from the Emperor’s Italian court to the translation schools of Toledo and from there to the Moorish library of Córdoba. But when the Pope deems the translations heretical, the Scot refuses to desist. So begins a battle for power between Church and State–one that has shaped how we view the world today.

"Mac Donald has succeeded in making the art of translation centre stage in a thrilling, witty, violent and mysterious debut filled with scheming characters." —Jen Calleja, author and translator, Shortlisted for The Man Booker International Prize

"The characters, setting and the issues at stake will all linger long after you've finished reading it." —Domitilla Campanile, Professor of History, University of Pisa

"In lush historic prose, Elizabeth Mac Donald leads the reader on a complex journey, where all interactions are tinged with superstition and suspicion." —Nuala O'Connor, author of Becoming Belle 

"A fascinating sliver of history and a truly original book." —Alan Robert Clark, author of The Prince of Mirrors

"Mac Donald's style is crisp and captivating." —Biancamaria Rizzardi, Professor of English Literature, University of Pisa

''A Matter of Interpretation' is a complex tale of knowledge, power, intrigue and the struggle for supremacy between Church and State." —'The Irish Times'

"Elizabeth Mac Donald knows how to grip the reader." —'The Tablet'

"A Matter of Interpretation is a story about authority and corruption, knowledge and language, and written with impressive detail, giving a real flavour for what life in continental Europe might have resembled hundreds of years ago." —Sophie Grenham, 'The Gloss' 

"This extraordinary novel ranges wide across the political and religious map of medieval Europe." —Peter Sirr, Translator, Novelist and Award-Winning Poet 

"Mac Donald has an unerring eye for detail and memorable characters. Highly recommended." —Lucinda Byatt, The Historical Novel Society

"A book to read with a glass of port and a dagger nearby." —George Szirtes, poet and translator

Elizabeth MacDonald was born in Dublin, where she studied Italian and Music at University College Dublin. She was awarded an Italian government scholarship and pursued post-graduate studies at the Università del Sacro Cuore, ‘La Cattolica’, Milan. She then taught English at the University of Bari for two years before moving to Pisa, where she still lives with her husband and son. She has taught on the post-graduate course in Translation at the University of Pisa and translates both from and into Italian.