Wine of Violence: Summary and book reviews of Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal, plus links to an excerpt from Wine of Violence and a biography of Priscilla Royal.
Wine of Violence
by Priscilla Royal
Hardcover: Dec 2003,
248 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2006,
248 pages.
It is late summer in the year 1270 and England is as weary as its aging king, Henry III. Although the Simon de Montfort rebellion is over, the smell of death still hangs like smoke over the land. Even in the small priory of Tyndal on the remote East Anglian coast, the monks and nuns of the Order of Fontevraud long for a return to tranquil routine. Their hopes are dashed, however, when the young and inexperienced Eleanor of Wynethorpe is appointed their new prioress over someone of their own choosing. Nor are Eleanor's own prayers for a peaceful transition answered. Only a day after her arrival, a brutally murdered monk is found in the cloister gardens, and Brother Thomas, a young priest with a troubled past, arrives to bring her a more personal grief. Now she must not only struggle to gain the respect of her terrified and resentful flock but also cope with violence, lust and greed in a place dedicated to love and peace.
Publishers Weekly
With its intriguing plot, chilling conclusion and characters who exhibit universal and timeless feelings, this fresh first has all the potential to evolve into a series as enduring as Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael books.
Sheldon Siegel
Priscilla Royal's stellar debut is a compelling combination of mystery, intrigue and medieval history. Royal has a fresh narrative voice, an impressive ear for dialogue and a keen sense of history. Find a comfortable chair and plan to stay up late. Highly recommended.
Michael Jecks
....gripping, with an excellent plot and wonderfully realized characters. I picked it up on a long journey and could not put it down. Wonderful read.
Harriet Klausner
...a fascinating look at medieval life in the year 1270 during the reign of King Henry III. Readers read about sexual predators enjoying the largesse of the Catholic Church and how secular choices are made for religious appointments. Priscilla Royal is a talented storyteller entertains and educates her audience with this regal historical.
From the Author's Foreword:
Although Tyndal Priory and its inhabitants never existed, the Order
of Fontevraud most certainly did. It was a very powerful religious
institution from its founding at the turn of the twelfth century by
Robert d’Arbrissel until shortly after the French Revolution. Like
the Order of the Paraclete (once headed by Heloise, whose
correspondence with her husband, Peter Abelard, is one of the
treasures of medieval literature), Fontevraud was one of the rare
Orders of double houses where a woman was in charge of both male and
female monastics......
.......Regarding the status of women in my fictional Eleanor’s
period, many of us have been told that they were considered
"the weaker vessel," accorded little respect and fewer
rights compared to women today. (An interesting conclusion from our
society that still questions whether...
Maisie is as intelligent and engaging a sleuth as one might desire: the period touches, from clothing to manners, are not only elegantly presented but unostentatious.
Newcomers usually don't stay long in remove Lockdubh, Scotland, but artist Effie Garrard settles in and apart from being a dreamer and a little odd, seems to be fine. Then she's found dead, an apparent suicide, but police constable Hamish Macbeth feels in his bones it is murder - but is he too distracted by his own personal affairs to...
These are 2 of the 7 readalike suggestions for Wine of Violence. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
Full Story
Sheldon Siegel
