December 1142. Brother Haluin suffers a terrible fall at Shrewsbury Abbey and, believing he is dying, makes a confession to Brother Cadfael concerning a grave wrong committed many years earlier. Haluin unexpectedly survives, but recovery leaves him convinced that confession alone is not enough and that he must attempt to repair the damage he caused.
Cadfael accompanies the weakened monk on a winter journey of penance. What begins as an effort to make amends gradually reveals that the old story was shaped by secrecy, family pressure and incomplete knowledge. Cadfael must uncover what really happened before Haluin’s search for forgiveness creates new suffering for people whose lives have already been determined by the hidden events of the past.
Bernard Knight
31 books
Ian Morson
21 books
Sharon Kay Penman
14 books
Elizabeth Chadwick
26 books
Cecelia Holland
20 books