| White Harts and a Nun Dressed in Blue |
December 28, 2009
The Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark is rich with historical details, winding the realities of a medieval pilgrimage from England to Rome around an imagined plot of political intrigue. The brutal political jockeying that went on in England in the late 1300s between John the Gaunt and Richard II comes to vivid life in Clark's book, as does the role that the Church played in the political maneuverings. The question of loyalty and reward and its impact and machinations amongst the powerful abbeys; the role of mercenary armies; and the divisiveness of the Church itself, with one pope in Avignon and one in Rome, are all brought in to a plot that is engaging, fast-paced, and complicated.
Perhaps the plot is a bit too complicated: for all its wonderful details of medieval social, political, and religious life, the plot is so reliant on different alliances and loyalties amongst such a variety of names and places that it is at times very, very hard to follow who is who, what is what, and in the end, who murdered whom and why. An accompanying list of characters and their alliances (possible alliances: to John the Gaunt, Richard II, the pope at Avignon, or the one at Rome, leaders of Florence, Rome, or Milan) might have helped decipher the intricacies of the plot.
Nevertheless, following the nun (and sleuth) Hildegard on her quest across France, through the Alps and the St. Bernard pass, and into the glorious pageantry of medieval Florence in full celebratory swing, is enthralling and entertaining, sometimes fun and sometimes gruesome. The added bonus of learning about the bustling mercantile exchanges of the time; the era's vigorous and combative religious struggles; the realities of a months-long, on-foot pilgrimage and the attending industries of inns, entertainment, and protection; and the exigencies of justice across Europe makes this a fascinating book to read, and a wonderful new series to follow (if not always understand).
Per FTC rules, the book reviewed here was a review copy received from the publisher.
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