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Browse our Categories! Historical Non-Fiction (A-H) Miscellaneous Fiction
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Cursed in the Blood by
Sharan Newman As far as Catherine LeVendeur is concerned, life couldn't be more perfect. She has a handsome and intelligent husband and now, thanks to a successful pilgrimage to the monastery of Saint James de Compostela, a healthy and beautiful son as well. Catherine is eagerly anticipating a peaceful and fulfilling life in 12th-century Paris, but her contentment is broken by an urgent summons from her husband Edgar's family in Scotland. Catherine, being a loyal and loving wife, insists on traveling with him, but upon their arrival in cold and murky Scotland, they begin to realize what a mistake they have made. Someone hates Edgar's father so much that he has slaughtered the entire family in revenge. But who could it be? And how will Catherine protect her infant son when she herself is a helpless stranger in a foreign land? Sharan Newman's attention to detail and depth of research, combined with her exquisite writing style, form a tale which transports the reader into a medieval Paris so authentic that one can almost hear the shouts of the divinity students arguing their philosophies, and the smell of horses clopping trough the cobblestoned streets. Her heroine, Catherine LeVendeur, is a remarkable women for her era, intelligent and well-educated, having lived, until her marriage at the Paraclete under the tutelage of the Abbess Heloise. Newman's understanding of the various religious dilemmas faced by the people of medieval Paris is communicated clearly without being pedantic. But underlying her exceptional scholarship is a thrilling adventure. Cursed in the Blood is one of the best medieval mysteries since Ellis Peters wrote her last Brother Cadfael Mystery. If you are fond of mysteries and medieval history, Cursed in the Blood will satisfy your soul. —Misty Massey |
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