September 1140. A young man enters the Abbey of Shrewsbury as a novice but is tormented by violent nightmares and behaviour that suggests a burden he cannot explain. Brother Cadfael becomes concerned that the disturbances are connected to events outside the monastery rather than to any simple crisis of vocation.
As Cadfael investigates the novice’s past, hidden family tensions and an unresolved death begin to emerge. The abbey offers sanctuary from the civil conflict of Stephen and Matilda’s reign, but it cannot prevent old grievances from following its inhabitants through the gates. Cadfael must discover whether the novice is victim, witness or participant before fear and secrecy produce another act of violence.
Bernard Knight
31 books
Ian Morson
21 books
Sharon Kay Penman
14 books
Elizabeth Chadwick
26 books
Cecelia Holland
20 books