Galilee (novel)

"Galilee" is a novel by Clive Barker, published in 1998. It chronicles the rise and fall of two very different, but equally powerful dynasties.

Plot summary

The first dynasty, the Gearys, are a glamorous and rich family, similar to the Kennedys, who have been a power in America since the Reconstruction. The book examines them through the eyes of the young woman who marries Mitchell Geary, the scion of the clan. It also examines the beginnings of the family's power and its links to the Barbarossa clan.

The Barbarossas are a family of godlike beings. The two parents came into existence during the Bronze Age, somewhere between Canaan and the city of Samarkand. They have since had four children, though both have been in active relationships with others in the same time. Of the four children, one is a lesbian, one is overweight, one has spent time in a mental institution, and the eldest, Galilee, is held to the Geary family by an oath going back to the American Civil War.

Eventually, the link between the families is revealed, with several deaths. Although several plot threads spin out of the book - the Gearys discovering a route to the Barbarossa stronghold, several deaths, and the narrator's promise to track down his half-brother's children - and Barker has promised at least one sequel, none have been written, and it is left to the imagination of the reader to work out what happens next.

ISBN 0-00-617805-7rm