In the Falcon's Claw - Hardcover

Raymo, Chet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670828904 ISBN 13: 9780670828906

Publisher: Viking, 1990

Synopsis

In a novel evoking the political and pastoral landscapes of tenth-century Europe, Aileran, an Irish monk whose love of God is shaken by his love of a woman, writes to the Pope, who considers Aileran a heretic

About this title

About the Author:

Chet Raymo is professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. He is teacher, naturalist, and former science columnist for the Boston Globe.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this first novel by Boston Globe science columnist and nonfiction author ( Honey from Stone and Soul of the Night ), the portents, superstitions and papal machinations of the impending millennium furnish a provocative setting for interplay between historical and created characters. Framed as both an eloquent memoir of the fictional Irish monk Aileran and a defense against accusations of his heresy, the narrative is in episodic and evocative form. Aileran recounts his life and loves to the captivating friend of his youth, Gerbert, with whom Aileran traveled and shared illicit pleasures, and who later assumed the tiara as the powerful prelate Sylvester II. Aileran's life and times are forged by contrast as he struggles with questions of faith and spirit. As a novice, he is the only survivor of a gruesome Viking raid. As monk-tutor to beautiful Melisande, he masks his desire by instructing her in Ovid's poetry--but only until a ripe time arrives for the lovers, and the subsequent price is more costly than either could have imagined. Raymo's elegant prose and his fidelity to historical detail distinguish [...] this well-crafted, often moving novel.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0670828904
• ISBN 13: 9780670828906
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240