TWENTY GOOD READS FOR LOVERS OF HISTORICAL MYSTERIES

The “Cadfael Chronicles,” twenty historical mysteries sent during the English Civil War of the 1100s, by Ellis Peters (various publishers and editions available). They were written between 1977 and 1994, in the following order:

                              

 A Morbid Taste for Bones
One Corpse Too Many
Monk's Hood
St. Peter's Fair
The Leper of Saint Giles
The Virgin in the Ice
The Sanctuary Sparrow
The Devil's Novice
Dead Man's Ransom

The Pilgrim of Hate
An Excellent Mystery
The Raven in the Foregate
The Rose Rent
The Hermit of Eyton Forest
The Confession of Brother Haluin
The Heretic's Apprentice

The Potter's Field
The Summer of the Danes
The Holy Thief
Brother Cadfael's Penance

Dialogue between Wilda Morris and Thomas Kessler

WM: I read all twenty of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters (a pseudonym of British author, Edith Pargeter). Did you also read all of them? If so, what did you especially like about them?

TK: It was quite a while ago, but I believe I read all that were available at the time. I enjoyed them very much for several reasons—I enjoy mystery novels, I enjoy novels set in the Middle Ages, and I enjoy novels that serve to open a window into life in monasteries. I also appreciated Cadfael's perspective on life and events. 

WM: The series was recommended to me during the month we spent on the border between Wales and England. The main setting is the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury. I found one of the books in a store and bought it. I think it was The Hermit of Eyton Forest. It was a mistake not to begin with A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first book in the series. If you don’t start with the first book, you know something that gives away too much in an earlier volume. Thirteen of the books were made into television shows (with Derek Jacobi playing Brother Cadfael). I never understood why our public television station played the third episode first. One of the suspicious characters in the second novel becomes a regular, much-respected character in the later books. If you already know he is a “good guy,” he won’t look like a villain in One Corpse Too Many. That reduces the suspense. I highly recommend starting with the first volume of the series and working your way through in order! Do you have a favorite?

TK: I don't remember enough details to specify a favorite in terms of the story, but the one that I am reminded about most often is Monk's Hood because it involved a poisoning using a toxic plant called Monkshood - which has a beautiful hood-shaped purple bloom. After reading the book I planted some Monkshood in our yard (just to look at - not to use as poison), and think of the novel every time I see the plant.

WK: Maybe you could give me a cutting of Monkshood for my garden! Your mention of that reminds me that Cadfael was an expert in herbs and other plants. As a monk, Cadfael was in charge of the monastery herb garden, which was grown primarily for medicinal purposes. Cadfael was called on when a monk was ill, as well as when a body was found in the area around Shrewsbury. Cadfael had been a soldier in the Crusades and had brought back herbs that were new to English gardens.

TK: I’d be glad to provide you a cutting!  It spreads slowly without being invasive and seems to be quite hardy and I’ve begun to plant cuttings in various places in our yard.  Two interesting features of the books for me was that Cadfael was an herbalist and that being a monk was a “second career” after having led a more worldly life, including service in the Crusades.  That juxtaposition of two radically different life-styles and worldviews is what I was referring to when I said I appreciated his perspective on life and events.

WM: At one point, after the fourth or fifth of the series, I thought the books were getting a bit redundant. I put the series aside for a couple of months, and then went back to it. After that, I never found them redundant or boring. Now I wonder if it was after that that some of the plots drew on Cadfael’s life as a Crusader (and his time as a sailor), before he settled down and became a monk. This back-story gave the author interesting material on which to draw.

TK: Interesting. This conversation is making me want to go back and read the Cadfael series again.  I think that I’d appreciate and enjoy them even more than I did the first time. Do you have copies of most of the books? It just occurred to me that while I spend a fair amount of time in used bookstores and at used book sales, I seldom see Cadfael novels. I can only remember running across one in the past several years. Have you had the same experience?

WM: I have seen some of these books at The Frugal Muse in Darien, Illinois, where I sometimes buy used books.  To change the subject a bit, it seems to me that these books could be used as a resource on which to base a series of discussions of theological issues. Off hand, I can think of several: the use of relics; a Christian view of sexuality; whether it is ever appropriate to lie, etc. What do you think of this idea? Are there other issues you would add to the list?

TK: I think using the Cadfael novels as the basis of theological discussions is a great idea—and perhaps a way to engage some folks who might not think they'd enjoy such discussions. I'd have to re-read some of the novels to comment much more, but certainly issues of faith and authority - as well as historical discussions of 12th Century England.
 

WM: Yes, I should have thought of religious authority as a discussion topic; Cadfael had some interesting conflicts with other members of the monastery community, especially Prior Robert and the prior’s clerk! TK: The issue of religious authority is quite interesting.  Cadfael’s position as herbalist is certainly not a “power position” within the monastery or Catholic hierarchy.  But to my mind his wide previous experience before joining the order provided him more authority in terms of understanding of human nature and society.  I always enjoyed seeing how he managed to maneuver in the hierarchical system. WM: Another interesting topic for discussion would be the relationship between the secular world and the sacred, a theme which occurs regularly in this series. Grace, ethics, and the role of prayer are other potential discussion topics which could be based on reading one or more of the Cadfael series. I learned some things about the history of Great Britain while reading these books. The fact that the stories take place in historical sequence is helpful from that perspective. I don’t recall ever having heard of the struggle between Matilda (also called Maud) and Stephen for the throne of England until I read these books. Did you find the books an enjoyable way of picking up a little historical knowledge?

TK: They were very enjoyable! If you liked the Cadfael novels you might also enjoy books by Sharon Kay Penman. She has at least three mysteries out (example: The Queen's Man) - and if you enjoy "bigger" reads, her novel When Christ and His Saint's Slept is a much longer read about Matilda/Maud's struggle with her cousin Stephen for the throne. For some reason I find this particular period of English history fascinating—although I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live in England at that time. Another novel set in that same period that I enjoyed very much is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. That period of English history provides the grist for discussion on many, many topics and aspects of “the human condition”—much as the U.S. Civil War does.

WM: I really enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth also. You aren’t the first person to recommend Sharon Penman’s books to me. I guess it is time for me to start reading them. And one of these days, I’m going to reread all twenty of the Cadfael novels. Edith Pargeter died in 1995, so there will not be any more books in the series.

CIVIL WAR by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

(GRAPHIC NOVEL)

Civil War 1-7. written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steve McNiven (New York: Marvel Comics, 2010).

Reviewed by Kevin Penrod

This is by far one of my favorite comic books. It’s about all our favorite super heroes from Marvel getting split down the middle and going at it with each other. It starts out with a reality show staring some semi-unknown trying to get their ratings up so they go after a team of very powerful super villains. In the battle there is a huge explosion which causes the death of a lot of innocent civilians including a few children. In the aftermath the government passes the super hero registration act which calls for all masked heroes to make their identities known and register with the government. For some this seems like a good idea, especially with Tony Stark (Iron Man) heading the idea. When it is passed there are a few heroes who go underground because they oppose it. Leading this team is Captain America who was against it from the start. With constant action and a great story to go along with it, Civil War is a comic I recommend to any Marvel fan.

THE NORTHERN CLEMENCY by Philip Hensher

(N0VEL)

The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008).

597 pages.

The Northern Clemency, narrated by Carole Boyd (Clipper Audio, US, 2008).

Unabridged. 22 compact discs (approximately 25.5 hours)

Reviewed by Wilda Morris

In 1974, at the beginning of the Thatcher era, the Sellers family moves to a home in Sheffield, across the street from the Glovers, a family in crisis. Neither family is entirely “normal” (if there is such a thing), but the Glovers are definitely dysfunctional.  As the Sellers family is moving in, Malcolm Glover has walked out on his family and his wife Katherine stomps her son Tim’s pet snake to death on the sidewalk in a fit of anger.

The Northern Clemency is an example of what is sometimes called a “sprawling novel.” The story takes place over three decades. Most of the action occurs in Sheffield, an industrial city, but Hensher takes some of his characters to London and Australia. As we watch the daily struggles and interrelationships of the two families and their neighbors and friends, the news seems to be playing in the background: we see how some of them are impacted by the economic and political struggles of the time (in particular, the coal miners’ strike of 1984).

The book is well-plotted and readable, but quite long. Had I been reading the book instead of listening to the CDs, I suspect I would have been annoyed by the surfeit of details and minor characters.

The Northern Clemency was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, given each year to a novel published in English, written by a citizen of the British Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, and published in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, it got some rather mediocre reviews.

FALL OF GIANTS by Ken Follett

(HISTORICAL NOVEL)

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (New York: Dutton, 2010), 980 pages.

Available in hardback, paperback, Kindle, and audio versions.

Reviewed by Chuck Dayton

This is the first book of a promised trilogy about the prominent events of the 20^th century.  The book begins shortly before the turn of the 20^th century, and concludes during the period between the two world wars. The next two promised books cover the rest of the century.

Ken Follett writes basically two kinds of books: thriller, espionage stories (i.e.: Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca, etc), and detailed historical fictional accounts of some event or time period in history (i.e.: Pillars of the Earth, followed by a sequel, World without End). The latter two books were an account of building a cathedral in England beginning in the 11^th century, and continuing through the middle ages in the sequel.  Fall of Giants fits this historical fiction category. I enjoy his writing style and have read all of his books.

Fall of Giants follows in great detail the lives of fictional characters in Wales, England, Germany, America, and Russia. Their lives become intertwined as the tale is spun, almost to an unbelievable extent. This didn’t bother me as I read it, but it is a criticism. The real life characters of the period were, according to the forward, portrayed as they were written in history. There is enough intrigue, love, dare I say sex, to keep any reader interested in the history of the period. I learned a lot about the beginnings of WW I and the period through the end of the war. If you have ever wondered just who Archduke Ferdinand really was, this is your chance to learn in a fun way. I believe the fall of the royal houses in Europe following the war, in Russia and the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, were accurately portrayed. The book only gives a glimpse into what is about to happen in Germany during the period between the wars. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.  

© 2012            

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION by Richard Dawkins

NONFICTION (SCIENCE)

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins (Free Press, 2009, paperback $16.99)

Reviewed by Laird Addis, Jr.

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins, subtitled The Evidence for Evolution, is a wonderfully entertaining description of the multiple kinds of facts that make up the basis for the evolutionary account of life on earth.  I never tire of reading Dawkins’s books, for he is the best writer around on evolution for the non-specialist.  He uses examples and pictures in a convincing way as he tells his story of how many kinds of evidence—from DNA studies to carbon dating to the fossil record to embryology (“How could complicated organisms like humans have come from single-cell organisms?  You did it yourself in only nine months.”)  to direct observations of evolution in laboratories and nature, and much more—all come together to ground the only plausible account of how life developed from its origin more than three billion years ago.  Like Darwin, Dawkins does not try to explain the origin itself, but only how life evolved once it did exist.  There are hundreds of books on evolution, and I have read many of them, but this is possibly the best single book one could find for anyone wanting to understand how scientists know of the fact of evolution.   

COURAGEOUS by Randy Alcorn

(NOVEL)

 

Courageous by Randy Alcorn (Tyndale House, 2011).

Also available on Kindle and as an audiobook.

Reviewed by Kevin Penrod, Jr.

Randy Alcorn based this book on the screen play written by Alex and Stephen Kendrick. The story focuses around a group of men who are police officers and one who is having trouble with finding work. This book deals with their struggles as officers, husbands and fathers and keeping God at the center of their lives. They all have their own struggles throughout this book and somehow learn to overcome them.

I highly recommend this book. Is you are looking for a book that has everything: action, comedy, sadness, and a guest appearance from the Carpenter-King himself, this is the book for you. I recommend the book over the movie because there is a lot more to it. The book includes subplots, characters, and back story not in the movie. A very powerful inspirational read.

THE ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD by Russell Shorto

(HISTORY)

Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World:  The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (New York: Doubleday, 2004; Vintage Books, 2005).

Audio Version: Recorded Books; Unabridged edition (July 30, 2004).

Reviewed by Wilda Morris

Native Americans did not sell Manhattan to the Dutch for $24. That is just one of the myths that spread after the British took control of New Amsterdam in 1664. The rich history of the Dutch colony is being reclaimed as 12,000 pages of surviving records are at last being translated by Charles Gehring.

The way Shorto tells the story of the founding and early years of Manhattan makes it almost as engrossing as a novel. At the center of the tale is Adriaen van der Donck, the young lawyer who lead the opposition to the autocratic practices of Willum Kieft and his successor as director-general, Peter Stuyvesant. I confess that my original interest in this story stemmed from the role that Cornelius Melyn, my eighth great-grandfather, played in these events. I was glad to find him mentioned a number of times, but I would have found the book fascinating even if I had had no genealogical relationship to Manhattan.

New Amsterdam, in contrast to most of the British colonies, was a polyglot, multi-ethnic society many of whose people valued religious liberty, free trade and individual rights. We can still learn from much of their history. I highly recommend this book in both print and recorded versions.