Anchoress of Shere - Softcover

Paul Moorcraft

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0953797716 ISBN 13: 9780953797714

Publisher: Millstream Press, 2001

Synopsis

In 1329, a beautiful Surrey woman is walled up alive in the village church of Shere. The Anchoress' story is taken up late in this century by deranged Catholic priest Father Michael Duval.

Gradually, two separate sagas unfold: the world of the Middle Ages centered on Christine's entombment, and the 1967 abduction of a young woman from Guildford.

In a series of exotic twists, the medieval world of knights, debauchery, peasant uprisings and civil war merges into a modern hunt for a serial killer. The tragedy of the anchoress is based upon historical facts, yet it is also an exploration of the most dramatic themes of today: sexual freedom, and the power of belief, spiritual bondage and the individual search for self-fulfillment.

Above all, this is a gripping adventure story of a love so obsessive that it spans more than 600 years.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. Paul L. Moorcraft, a former war correspondent and film producer, has written a series of books on politics, military history and crime.

After twenty-five years of travelling, he settled in Shere, Surrey, to write this account of its most famous inhabitant.

From Publishers Weekly:

This exceptional thriller from British author Moorcraft, a film producer and former war correspondent, exhibits a rare quality of intelligence and imagination, with a remarkable depth of feeling for the book's characters and their predicaments. Be forewarned that there's nothing cozy or comforting about this engrossing, subtle historical, which centers on a spiritual quest into Christian mysticism and smoothly alternates between past and present. In 1329, Christine Carpenter, an actual personage who lived in the village of Shere in the Surrey woodlands, had herself walled up in a church cell to live out her remaining days in prayer and meditation. In our own time, scholars have come to the village to study the legendary "Anchoress of Shere" to try to understand her drastic decision. Among them is Father Michael Duval, whose interest in Christine's story has grown into a psychotic obsession. Duval has kidnapped and killed six young women in an attempt to reproduce his crazed image of Christine. Now he has seized another victim, Marda Stewart, a bright and courageous lady who knows her only chance to survive is to play an intellectual cat-and-mouse game with her maniacal captor. The resultant suspense will keep the reader riveted to the very end of this brilliantly original tale.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Millstream Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0953797716
• ISBN 13: 9780953797714
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296