Strangers and Pilgrims - Softcover

Bennett, Maggie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847512674 ISBN 13: 9781847512673

Publisher: Severn House, 2011

Synopsis

A captivating historical saga about the enduring spirit of love - September, 1340. Grief-stricken by the death of his young wife, lawyer Ralph de Courcy takes a spiritual journey that leads him to St Francis. Now known as Friar Valerian, Ralph’s fame for preaching and healing grows as he travels throughout England. But then he meets Cecily Wynstede, the daughter of an impoverished knight, and there is an instant and mutual attraction. Cecily has dreamed of a knight who resembles Valerian, and Valerian sees his patron saint, St Cecilia, in her. But Cecily’s parents have other plans for their daughter . . .

About this title

About the Author:

Born in Hampshire, MAGGIE BENNETT worked as a nurse and midwife until her retirement in 1991. She has been an avid reader and scribbler since childhood, and first began to approach her writing seriously after the death of her husband in 1983. She enjoyed modest successes with articles and short stories before the publication of her first romance novel in 1992. This novel won that year s RNA New Writer's Award and she went on to publish six more medical romances, all under her married name of Margaret Holt.

From Booklist:

Guilt-stricken when his young wife dies trying to birth their child, Master Ralph de Courcy abandons his promising career and becomes a mendicant friar, endlessly traveling across England to succor the poor and helpless with his medical and legal expertise. A chance meeting with lovely Cecily, promised to a wealthy neighbor’s son for whom she feels no affection, fires his blood and rekindles his devotion to his patron Saint Cecilia, while Cecily resolves to submit to her duty although she is greatly drawn to Friar Valerian, as de Courcy is now known. Bennett’s rambling mid-fourteenth century saga centers on the church’s importance to political, judicial, and financial maneuvers, and her characters’ unwavering faith through a variety of grim experiences unto death. But the overwhelming preponderance of detail impedes reader identification with her characters. Recommended for readers who relish historical minutiae, and those who enjoy dramatic English sagas. --Lynne Welch

About this edition

• Publisher: Severn House
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1847512674
• ISBN 13: 9781847512673
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256