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|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (m) Bilyeau, N. 2012 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | Bilyeau, N. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father's life and preserve all she holds dear from Cromwell's ruthless terror.
When novice nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and run away from her Dominican Order in Dartford to stand at her cousin's side.
Arrested for interfering with king's justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London. Joanna's father is brutally tortured by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester who leads the Catholic faction bent on saving England's monasteries from destruction. In order to save her father, Joanna must submit to Gardiner's will and become a pawn in the struggle between religious extremes. Gardiner forces Joanna to return to Dartford Priory with a mission: find the long hidden crown worn by Saxon King Athelstan in AD 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain. Gardiner believes the crown itself to possess a mystical power that will halt the Reformation.
Uncovering only dark betrayals and murder at Dartford, Joanna flees with Brother Edmund, a troubled young friar, and with time running out, their hunt for the crown leads them through royal castles, to Stonehenge, and finally to the tomb of the mysterious King Athelstan under Malmesbury Abbey. There Joanna learns the true secret of the crown, a secret tracing all the way back to Golgotha and the Relics of the Passion. Now, as Cromwell's army of destruction advances, Joanna must finally determine who to trust and how far she is willing to go to protect a way of life that she passionately loves.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Bilyeau's debut tackles the fracas that ensued when King Henry VIII began persecuting Catholics and other groups he saw as a threat to his reign. Joanna Stafford, a novice nun from a fallen noble family, defies the rules of her convent and travels to London to bear witness to the burning at the stake of her favorite cousin, Margaret, who has been convicted of treason. At the execution, Joanna encounters her father, who hastens Margaret's death with gunpowder. Father and daughter are taken to the infamous Tower of London, where Joanna is held for months until an ambitious bishop, Stephen Gardiner, threatens her father with torture and death unless Joanna returns to her priory on a covert mission to retrieve a possibly apocryphal royal crown purported to be hidden on priory grounds. Despite Bilyeau's intriguing main story line, the narrative becomes sidetracked by a subplot involving Lord Chester, the boorish father of the priory's Sister Christina. Unfortunately, stock crazy characters and some glaring plot holes derail a promising story about one woman's love for God and family. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The crown of the title of this suspenseful novel set in sixteenth-century England belonged to Athelstan, the Saxon king who united Britain in 937. It was lost and supposedly hidden for centuries. Readers learn the crown's history after a long introduction to Joanna, a Dominican nun whose disruptive presence at the public burning of her cousin lands her in jail and into the clutches of the evil bishop of Winchester. Bilyeau's complicated story wends its way back to the priory, where Joanna, to free her father from jail and save the church from the Reformation, must find the crown for the bishop. Far-fetched, yes, but Bilyeau's portrayal of the nuns' lives, with their petty infighting, genuine piety, and strength in the face of King Henry's threats to annihilate Catholicism, redeems this first novel. Strong character development, realistic historical detail, and an atmosphere of pervasive tension coupled with a fast-paced plot make it compulsively readable. Similar in theme and tone to Vantrease's The Mercy Seller (2007) and Trussoni's Angelology (2010), though less intense than the latter.--Baker, Jen Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Novitiate Joanna breaks her vows to leave her cloister and come to the aid of her cousin Margaret, convicted of treason against King Henry VII and sentenced to hang. Joanna is subsequently thrown into the Tower of London with her father and released with a secret mission-return to her priory and find a legendary, mystical relic for the bishop. If she succeeds, her father will be freed as well; until then, he will be tortured to ensure her compliance. Along the way, Joanna is assisted by a handsome constable and a somber monk, both with hidden agendas and secret passions. -VERDICT Debut author Bilyeau promises a historical thriller with suspense, intrigue, and mystery-the delivery, however, is sometimes lacking. While the plot is compelling, the author drags out her story with multiple, concurrent subplots. This book will appeal to fans of Dan Brown and Philippa Gregory, if they can dedicate themselves to the 400-plus pages.-Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.