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Summary
Summary
A Catherine LeVendeur mystery
Catherine LeVendeur is a creature of twelfth-century France. Her life is a mirror of that time but she is a unique spirit, determined to make her way in the world and armed with a keen mind and a curiosity that often puts her in peril. Her life is both a reflection of the bonds placed upon a woman in her society and the ways in which a strong personality can triumph and succeed in spite of those strictures. Catherine is fiercely loyal to both her faith and her family . . . and this loyalty is sometimes sorely tested because of a dreaded family secret. Raised a devout Catholic, she knows that if her family's Jewish roots are exposed, all she loves will be destroyed.
But how far will she go to protect that secret? When her dearest friend in the world, Astrolabe, the son of the fabled theologian Peter Abelard and Heloise, flees wrongful prosecution for the vicious murder of a young woman, Catherine's family takes him in to hide. But there are darker forces than murder at work here. Someone wishes to use Astrolabe to complete the destruction of his father's fame in the name of faith . . . and there are those who would see the destruction of the very order of Christian life.
And Catherine's family is caught right in the middle of the conflict. While she has experienced love and loss, her life is committed to preserving what peace she can for those she loves. How far will Catherine go to save her friend, and what will this sacrifice do to her family's future?
"Heresy "is the eighth title in Sharan Newman's critically acclaimed Catherine LeVendeur medieval mystery series. Sharan Newman has used extensive research to give us a fascinating panorama of twelfth-century France that is rich in historical detail, and she puts flesh to bone by creating portraits of people who are not so different from ourselves. Filled with fascinating details of medieval life and the intricate interplay between the Christian and Jewish cultures of the time, Heresy is a compelling mystery and a riveting historical rolled into one.
Author Notes
Sharan Newman won Romantic Times magazine's Career Achievement Award for Historical Mystery in 1999. She lives in Oregon.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Sharan Newman's eighth medieval historical, Heresy: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery, Astrolabe, the son of famed Abelard and Hlose, finds refuge with Catherine's family when he's falsely accused of a young woman's murder. As usual, the author mixes moral complexity and careful research to tell an entertaining tale. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Catherine LeVendeur, expecting her third baby during the cold fall of 1147, can manage raising two children and running a household in Paris with her loving husband Edward, who is learning the mercantile trade from Catherine's Jewish relatives. But she needs help when her dear friend Astrolabe appears on their doorstep. Astrolabe, son of famed lovers Peter Abelard and Heloise, had been "undercover" among a cult-like group of Breton heretics led by the deluded but harmless Eon when Cecile, a nun fleeing the debauched intentions of men under the command of a local Count, sought shelter with them. Before Cecile could be restored to a convent, a group of men attacked, capturing Eon. In the confusion, someone cut Cecile's throat and left Astrolabe implicated. He fled to Paris, from whence Catherine and her family travel to the Paraclete Abbey in Champagne, where Heloise, Astrolabe's mother and Catherine's mentor, is abbess. From Champagne, Astrolabe and Catherine proceed to Reims for the papal Council, where, among other notable historical events, Eon will be tried for heresy. There, in a city overrun by ecclesiastical politics in the persons of clerics, aristocrats, and their respective entourages, they must uncover Cecile's killer and protect Astrolabe from enemies who want him to burn at the stake for whatever looks likeliest. A tale that comes alive in its second half, when Newman (To Wear the White Cloak, 2000, etc.) vividly describes the carnivalesque atmosphere of the Council at Reims. Despite some hints of a deus ex machina, a satisfying journey through medieval France. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Newman's extensive historical research, apparent in the myriad details and a hefty list of acknowledgments, lends a strongly authentic tone to her story of twelfth-century France, and her skillful writing ensures that these details serve to bring the period alive. The eighth entry in the series finds a pregnant Catherine Le Vendeur preparing to leave home on a potentially dangerous journey. With the economy suffering in France, Catherine's merchant husband, Edgar, and her cousin Solomon are forced to go to Spain to find and buy luxury goods to sell. To ensure their safety, Catherine and her two children must stay at a convent run by her close friend Heloise, the abbess. Newman expertly weaves together numerous subplots, the main one involving the murder of Cecile, who had been living with a band of heretics in order to escape a cruel lord who stole her from a convent. Falsely accused of her murder is Astrolabe, Heloise's son, and Catherine soon gets involved in helping to clear his name. A fascinating and suspenseful story made even more riveting by its historical bent. --Jenny McLarin
Library Journal Review
Uprooted from their Paris home by threat of disease and the economic side effects of the latest Crusade, Catherine LeVendeur and her family take shelter in the convent headed by her friend Heloise. Traveling with them in disguise is Heloise and Abelard's son, Astrolabe, who has been wrongfully accused of raping and murdering a well-born woman abducted from another convent. Catherine's search for whoever is trying to discredit Heloise via Astrolabe threatens to expose her own dangerous secret-that her father is Jewish. In Newman's eighth LeVendeur mystery (following To Wear the White Cloak), readers will love the total immersion into medieval history through character, surroundings, turbulent events, and culture. Strongly recommended for fans of historical mysteries. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.