Book Review
Nov. 19th, 2018 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Mercy Seller
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
This enjoyable historical novel is set in the early 15th century and concerns Anna, the grand-daughter of a talented scribe and illuminator, who is also a skilled scribe and book-maker. She and her grandfather are also English Lollards living in Prague. When crackdowns on heretics endanger Anna, she makes her way back to England via Reims. In France, while supporting herself as a scribe and bookseller, she meets Gabriel, a pardoner disguised as a merchant in order to spy out the sources of heretical texts. Their emerging relationship causes Gabriel to question his beliefs and Church authority. Anna soon makes her way to England, where both she and Gabriel are caught up in Archbishop Arundel's campaign to stamp out heresy.
The thing I most enjoyed about The Mercy Seller/i> was its examination of Lollard beliefs and activities and its treatment of the relationship between religious and secular power. It's clear that Vantrease is firmly on the Lollards' side and is very much not a fan of the medieval Catholic Church. However, her handling of Gabriel's inner conflicts and increasingly divided loyalties is sensitive and sympathetic.
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
This enjoyable historical novel is set in the early 15th century and concerns Anna, the grand-daughter of a talented scribe and illuminator, who is also a skilled scribe and book-maker. She and her grandfather are also English Lollards living in Prague. When crackdowns on heretics endanger Anna, she makes her way back to England via Reims. In France, while supporting herself as a scribe and bookseller, she meets Gabriel, a pardoner disguised as a merchant in order to spy out the sources of heretical texts. Their emerging relationship causes Gabriel to question his beliefs and Church authority. Anna soon makes her way to England, where both she and Gabriel are caught up in Archbishop Arundel's campaign to stamp out heresy.
The thing I most enjoyed about The Mercy Seller/i> was its examination of Lollard beliefs and activities and its treatment of the relationship between religious and secular power. It's clear that Vantrease is firmly on the Lollards' side and is very much not a fan of the medieval Catholic Church. However, her handling of Gabriel's inner conflicts and increasingly divided loyalties is sensitive and sympathetic.
