Sometimes an author's handwriting isn't recognized by grand effects, but by small certainties: by sentences that hit home, by characters that don't seem like mere backdrops, and by a world that smells of salt, smoke, and distant lands. Wo das Paradies beginnt is exactly such a book – and it sparks curiosity about the person who wrote it: Renata Petry.
Because this novel doesn't feel like "off-the-rack medieval." Instead, it feels as if someone opened a door to a past world and simply took us along: from Gotland, via Regensburg and Venice, all the way to Acre and further towards Mesopotamia. For those wondering why it's told with such credibility and yet such lightness, the author interview with the publisher provides a clear answer: Petry writes with a rare blend of research passion and narrative joy – and she takes both seriously.
The Author Behind the Adventure: Research as the Foundation
Renata Petry is one of those authors who sees history not as decoration, but as a foundational ground. In the interview with the publisher, she openly describes how important this foundation is to her: "Honestly, I enjoy researching just as much as writing the novel, and it's also true that I spend almost as much time researching as I do writing itself." This is more than a nice workshop quote. You notice it on every page of the novel – not because facts are constantly enumerated, but because the historical sense of the world is right.
When Jon Skata makes an ill-considered vow in a tavern in Gotland, you feel the crampedness of the place and at the same time the pull of the open sea. When the journey later touches on trade routes, monasteries, ports, and border regions, it feels as if you are walking through a world that has its own rules. It is precisely this quality that distinguishes a historical adventure novel from mere costume drama.
"Quest" instead of a Stroll: Why the Journey Is More Than Geography
In the interview, Petry also emphasizes that the journey to paradise inevitably carries a second layer: an inner search. She deliberately uses the English term "quest" – a journey that is also a search for something higher. And this is exciting because it explains the tone of the novel: It's not just about "how do they get to Acre?", but about what this journey does to the characters.
Jon starts as a young merchant, in love and proud. Palu initially seems like the pragmatic counterpart, commenting on the madness. And Matti, as a disguised young woman, brings not only dynamism but also danger and moral friction into the group. The vibrancy of this constellation has a lot to do with Petry's eye for people: She writes characters not as functions, but as individuals with contradictions. This is precisely how humor, tension, and – very importantly – emotional closeness are created.
A Medieval Novel with Warmth: Entertainment Without Cynicism
In the interview, Petry also states very clearly what her fundamental concern is: to entertain readers well and to take them out of their everyday lives for a while. This sounds simple, but in a time when many novels aim for maximum bleakness, it's almost a statement. "Wo das Paradies beginnt" is not a "psychologically destructive" medieval novel, but an adventure story with heart. Loyalty, love, and self-determination are not broken ironically, but are allowed to be sincere – and that, precisely, feels surprisingly comforting today.
For those who want to read about Petry's approach to a specific topic, I recommend supplementing this with the article on the historical background of the novel. There, it becomes particularly clear how much the author ensures that the Middle Ages are not "modernly disguised," but speak for themselves – including the maps, worldviews, and religious ideas that could connect reality and myth at the time.
The World Map as a Spark: Images That Trigger Stories
One of the most beautiful moments in the interview is how Petry talks about her encounter with the famous Ebstorf World Map. This amazement – at the mixture of real places and mythical creatures, at the idea of a "sacred East," at paradise at the edge of the world – is not just an anecdote. It is a key: one understands why the novel lives so much from maps, paths, and promises. Petry does not write "about" the Middle Ages; she writes out of a fascination that is infectious. And precisely for this reason, the story carries its pace so effortlessly: because the author herself enjoys tracing this world.
An Author You'd Gladly Continue to Follow
In the end, what remains is not only the desire to continue accompanying Jon Skata, but also curiosity about the author herself: about her way of bringing historical material to life without smoothing it over. "Wo das Paradies beginnt" is therefore not only a strong start to a journey, but also an invitation to discover Renata Petry's work as a whole – because it is rare for a historical novel about the Middle Ages to be told with such depth and warmth at the same time. And that is precisely why it is worth remembering this author: Renata Petry.
Note: The book is available in German as a printed, i.e., hardcover edition (ISBN 978-3-910347-85-4) and as an EPUB (ISBN 978-3-910347-86-1) in bookstores or here in the publisher's shop.
