(NOTE: Page number refers to the hardcover edition.)
This article was written before I heard from Katherine Neville. Since
then, she has told me that Catherine is not a descendant of Mireille, and
that the 8 on their hands is not genetic. So I guess my father and I were
wrong. Oh, well! See her comments for
details.
The first time I read The Eight, I tried to guess how
the two stories were connected. My first guess was that Catherine was a
descendant of Mireille. Then, when I finished the book and found out that
Nim and Solarin were descendants of Mireille, I decided my first guess had
been wrong.
Now that I've read The Eight three times, though, I'm not so
sure. The name Velis is French, I think. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Catherine has the same 8 on her hand that Mireille has. Is the 8 genetic?
That is a possibility. Of course, the 8 on her hand means that she is the
Black Queen, but could the 8 be passed down from generation to generation
in the same family? It may skip several generations, as well. If this
idea is right, Catherine would almost have to be a descendant of Mireille.
(Of course I could be completely wrong about the 8 being genetic; my
father and I talked about this after he read The Eight.)
It is possible that Catherine is a descendant of Mireille's daughter,
who stayed in France instead of following Mireille on her adventures, as
her son did. We do not know much about Mireille's daughter and whether or
not she had any descendants. But there is that scene where Mireille's son
says to Talleyrand: "her [Mireille's daughter's] children will bond again
with our blood." (p. 544). What does he mean? Could he be talking about
Solarin's marriage to Catherine? I know Mireille's son can see into the
future, but can he see that far into the future? We don't know, but I
think this is the only way it would make sense, since Solarin, as we know,
is a descendant of Mireille's son, and we don't know of any other
marriages between descendants of Mireille's son and descendants of
Mireille's daughter.
If Catherine is a descendant of Mireille, does the 200-year-old
Mireille know about it? I think she must know, but then why doesn't she
say anything? Of course, she might think that if Catherine and Solarin
knew they were related, however distantly, they might not want to get
married. But then, she didn't know that Catherine and Solarin were going
to fall in love. There must be some reason Mireille did not want
Catherine to know she was a descendant, but we do not know what it is.
Then again, I could be completely wrong, and Catherine is not a descendant
of Mireille at all.
Copyright 1997 Vicki Kondelik.