Anchoress of Shere - Softcover

Moorcraft, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1464200513 ISBN 13: 9781464200519

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2012

Synopsis

Set in two different centuries, Anchoress of Shere depicts the story of a beautiful young woman, Christine Carpenter, who chooses to be walled up alive in a church in the English town of Shere. The historical records, which still exist, put the date at 1329.

The 20th century chronicler of her story is Father Michael Duval, a deranged Catholic priest. Gradually, two separate sagas unfold: the bizarre world of the Middle Ages centered on Christine's entombment, and the 1967 abduction of Marda Stewart in nearby Guildford. Soon the medieval world of knights, debauchery, peasant uprisings and civil war merges into a modern hunt for a serial killer. The final piece of the puzzle is discovered in the late 1990s, revealing a gripping adventure story of love so obsessive that it spans more than six hundred 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 and crime. After twenty-five years of travelling, he settled in Shere to write this book. His autobiographical Guns & Poses: Travels with an Occasional War Correspondent was published in 2001.

Review:

"A remarkable picture of village life in medieval Surrey." -- Eric Newby
"Very well written. Compelling...a tale of substance, dramatically, intelligently and clearly told." -- Arnold Wesker "First published in Britain, this intense, fascinating look at religious dementia is based on a medieval legend.... Strongly recommended for most collections." -- "Library Journal" "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...The resultant suspense will keep the reader riveted to the very end of this brilliantly original tale." -- "Publisher's Weekly," Starred review

"This is not a book for the squeamish. Both eras offer up examples of man's inhumanity to man, although Duval's depraved, yetemotionless, brutality seems far more terrible than the actions of the 14th century peasants who passionately tear into the drawn-and-quartered remains of a hated lord. Yet, as terrible as those scenes are, this is a book for the mind, an intelligently told story that seeks to find answers to the unanswerable." -"- Denver"" Post"

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1464200513
• ISBN 13: 9781464200519
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320