An antiquarian bookseller happens across an ancient scroll from the time of Jeebus that can’t be copied or photographed. And then three mysterious weirdos show up looking to acquire it - but what about the scroll makes it so valuable… and possibly dangerous?
I quite liked Anne Perry’s short story The Scroll - it’s a bit silly and feels rushed at times, probably due to the format, but it’s got a compelling hook, I enjoyed meeting the three strange visitors and I did want to find out what the scroll contained.
There are a few too many unanswered questions for my taste. Like why is the scroll magic, how do each of the figures know about who has it - at least two of them are “normal” humans, so wouldn’t have powers or anything like that - and why can’t they just take it from the bookseller? Then there’s all the people the bookseller encounters who are able to shed light on it for him - his buddy who happens to know Aramaic and the copper(!) whose dad happens to be an expert in Aramaic! Gosh, that’s useful!
To those who are never gonna read this but want to know what I’m talking about, (view spoiler) Maybe if I was more religious that reveal would have more impact on me, but I’m a heathen, so, meh. The magical mysterious weirdo is said author who’s accompanied by a demonic young girl…
… and this is a good time to mention the most interesting thing I found out from reading this short story: the author’s past. Because Anne Perry’s real name was Juliet Hulme. As a teenager in 1950s New Zealand, along with her best friend with whom she shared a rich fantasy life, the pair murdered the friend’s mother who wanted to separate the two (bludgeoned to death with a half brick in a stocking).
They got 5 years in prison due to their age, then after being released Hulme left New Zealand, changed her name to Anne Perry and, eventually, became a bestselling crime author. The case was made into the 1994 movie Heavenly Creatures directed by Peter Jackson and starred Kate Winslet in her first feature film role as that demonic young girl.
Not that that’s who the character in this story is meant to be but I thought it was interesting that Perry chose to represent Satan in that form from another life when she was someone very different. It’s not often a bestselling crime author is also a convicted murderer!
Some of the story beats are a little too convenient and at times it feels too much like an old person is writing this - which was the case; Perry was well into her 70s at this time - when the prose becomes clunky in trying to describe how technology works. But the core concept of it is undeniably compelling and I enjoyed how Perry wrote the mysterious stranger characters. Not especially memorable but The Scroll is still a pretty fun supernatural crime story - and it’s rare to read anything decent by a real life killer too.
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