Customer Reviews

The Apostate's Tale (A Dame Frevisse Mystery)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I pre-ordered this book, got it yesterday, stayed up late to finish it. Worth the loss of sleep.

This is not Frazer's best work but then the least of her many books is already pretty good. This book is told primarily from the point of two individuals -- Sister Cecily, a former nun (the Apostate of the title) who has returned to her old convent, and Sister Frievesse. The action occurs during Holy Week which makes an interesting background to the former nun's thoughts on why she left and what she thinks of the religious life in general. Sister Frievesse also has more than her usual contemplations about her vocation and the religious life. The contrast between the two is almost painful. In the meanwhile of course things happen that really shouldn't have done and Sister Frievesse has to sort it all out.

My viewpoint is a little different than some readers because I myself am an historical scholar of the Middle Ages and a theologian -- which is part of why I enjoy these books so very much. I find no glaring inaccuracies nor any annoying need for footnotes. A couple of things are explained quite naturally as part of the movement of the story (such as what an apostate is, which is different than an heretic). Frazer is very good at this. She also writes a fine mystery. My main complaint -- not that it's a big one -- is my desire to slap one of the characters. Which I submit is proof of the author's skill!

Review update 7/6/09: I have realized that this is my second-favorite of all this author's works. I re-read it a lot.

I've read every book in the Dame Frevisse series and enjoyed them all, but I think this is Frazer's best (and most subtle) work yet. It contains none of the politics, travel, and high-flying nobles that many of her recent books have and is set entirely within the walls of St. Frideswide's priory, but it delves more deeply into aspects of the the human condition that transcend time and space. The mystery wasn't hard to solve, but it's a great story with a very satisfying ending. If you've never read any books from this series I don't think I'd recommend starting with The Apostate's Tale, but if you have then don't miss this one!

After pursuing her cousin Alice's ends through several novels set in London, Dame Frevisse is once again where a Benedictine nun belongs, at St. Frideswide's. Part of her vows included "stability," the idea that the nun belongs for her lifetime in a particular "house" or convent. All Frevisse has ever wanted is to pursue her relationship with God: the novels all consist of interruptions to this peaceful search. The Apostate's Tale both fits this formula, and turns it on its head.

Sister Cecilia, whose family had pressed her to a vocation she did not feel, fled St. Frideswide's in a previous novel. Now the apostate nun has returned, with her son, after the death of her lover of ten years. Modern sensibility immediately sympathizes with Cecilia; Frevisse, with the appropriate fifteenth century attitudes, does not. Lifetime commitments remain constant, although the people who made them may change. The tension here is between stability and mutability, a most appropriate conflict for Frevisse.

Of course there is a murder, of course Frevisse must make difficult decisions, and the reader will enjoy not only Dame Frevisse's detective skills but her personal growth in this, the best of Frazer's excellent novels for several years.

I agree with the reviewers who have said that this is one of the best books in the series. Frazer has given us a real look into the heart of a late Medieval nun. Her views on the religous life and the struggle for perfection are very interesting. This is something that we don't come across readily in historical fiction of any type. While it is true that the mystery aspect of the book is not as all abiding as in some of the others, the historical accuracy and excellent writing give this book its value. I also would not recommend it for a first time reader to the series but if you have read others I think you will enjoy this one.

I have read all the books in this series from the beginning, and it seems to me that the best titles are the ones in which Frevisse never leaves the priory, or where she at least doesn't go haring off to London or her noble cousin's keep. I would include "The Prioress' Tale", "The Reeve's Tale" and this current book in that.

Nine years ago, Sister Cecily left the convent with a handsome traveller. Now, she's back, with a son from this man, whom she could never wed. Being an apostate religious in the Middle Ages meant arrest and the threat of excommunication; certainly having a wedding was a risk they could not afford.

But following her are relatives of her dead lover, seeking her son and some legal documents she is supposed to be in possession of. Another traveller is there to spirit her away and allegedly protect her son's interests.

Along with all this, Prioress Elizabeth is showing signs of illness or strain, there are a number of other guests at the priory, including a girl who wants to be a nun in the teeth of the disapproval of her ambitious mother (although it's not presented that way at first) and all this is happening during Holy Week, stretching the already impoverished priory to its limits.

As always, Frevisse struggles with her own duties and obligations whilst trying to resolve the problems with Sister Cecily, some mysterious illnesses and all the other problems which have arisen, including the arrival of Abbot Gilberd to determine Cecily's fate and that of Prioress Elizabeth.

By the end, St. Frideswide's has a new prioress. No points for guessing who.

Dame Frevisse is a nun in the eight-nunned abbey of St. Frideswide's, not an ordinary place to succour a sleuth. It's a cloistered place, after all, and the eight (or nine, depending on the book in the series) nuns don't often kill each other. Where are the mysteries going to come from? Thus there are two kinds of Dame Frevisse mysteries. The first is when the world and its violence come to her and the abbey. Often she's hosteler, so meets various guests and their troubles when they come to seek the abbey's hospitality. The second is when she goes into the world, usually beckoned by her cousin Alice with exalted political connections, and meets its violence outside the abbey walls. In Frazer's recent Dame Frevisse novels, the second plot gambit reigned. Frevisse got heavily involved in politics. I was beginning to miss the abbey.

In "The Apostate's Tale," the abbey roars back with a vengeance. Its cultural space is, in fact, the centre of the story. On the one hand, we have a nun, Sister Cecely, who abandoned the abbey years ago to run away with a lover, and has just now mysteriously chosen to return in shame and anger. On the other hand, we have a girl, Elianor, who desires to become a novice against her mother's wishes. Who should be at the abbey? Who shouldn't be? What happens when you're there and you shouldn't be? How do you know when you should? At what point in your spiritual journey should you stop asking these questions?

How Frevisse handles these questions is more important than the story or the mystery itself. Much of the big payoff resolution (who's poisoning the guests? What's going to happen with Domina Elizabeth's strange behaviour?) becomes obvious pretty early. It's still satisfactory when it comes, although Domina Elizabeth's sudden malaise isn't adequately explained. No, the mystery is secondary in this story to the problems of choices and how to handle when you doubt or regret them. This quandary is explored with all the resources available to a 15th-century nun.

Astonished, I found myself in this story, or some situations I know pretty well. What goes on in Frevisse's mind with reference to Sister Cecily proved useful to me, although it sounds like something Frevisse would have thought nearly six hundred years ago. This book is a source of wisdom. I put it aside feeling as if I had encountered something not merely entertaining but good.

And this to me is the final answer to the question everybody has to ask when reading Margaret Frazer: how does her Dame Frevisse series compare to Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series, which virtually inaugurated the ascetic detective genre? Cadfael is smart, tolerant, interesting, but he has no particular reason to be in a monastery other than a desire for peace. Shows no inclination toward piety. Has no wisdom other than a savvy kind of worldly wisdom. I wouldn't want him giving me advice. Frevisse is a better nun than Cadfael a monk, and that's all there is to it. She makes a better, more realistic protagonist of a medieval series. The final page of "The Apostate's Tale" relates a much-welcome event that could not have happened in a Brother Cadfael novel and is to me the measure of the gap between the series, a gap very much in Frevisse's favour.

The usual tart author's note in the book lets us know where Dame Frevisse gets her acerbic personality--from the author, who exhibits a similar impatience with foolishness. I think perhaps the author gets impatient with different things than Frevisse would, though. That's OK, a mark of good historical writing. Personalities remain the same over time, whether values change. Margaret Frazer continues to be very good at setting up human, recognisable quandaries of the heart and emotions, even in medieval stories that retain their authenticity. If she's not the best at resolving them in a wholly smooth and believable fashion, that's a cost I'm prepared to pay for being a continuing fan of this series.

This latest Dame Frevisse book from Margaret Frazer is one of the better books in the series. There's no murder to be solved, just a knotty problem for Dame Frevisse to work out. The ending is satisfying in more ways than one, with a neatly fore-shadowed little plot twist. Very enjoyable!

There is no real mystery in this book, and there certainly isn't a murder, but that does not make it less interesting. Ms. Frazer's view of life in England in the late-fifteenth century is truly that of a scholar. As a reader you know you are getting "the real goods" with one of her books. And she can write fiction. Her characters are strong and real, and the plot is tight with no loose ends. This book is a wonderful book to read around Easter, since that is when it is set, and it gave me a glimpse of how this holiday was celebrated in a nunnery in the late-middle-ages. Ms. Frazer introduces a really unlikeable character in this book. Sister Cecily is the apostate nun who has returned to St. Frideswide's as a penitent. But Dame Frevisse is too smart to be taken in by this, and when bad things start happening at the nuunery she doesn't have far to look for the perpetrator. Sister Frevisse is wonderful as always. Loved the book.

It's been nine years since Sister Cecely ran away from St. Frideswide's priory. She returns on a rainy night just before Easter, with a small son sheltered under her cloak and a heart blazing with renewed hatred for the nunnery and the life there that she left behind. She cannot let the sisters who did penance for failing to keep her safe nine years ago know that, though. Before them, and especially before Domina Elisabeth, she must pretend that she is returning repentant and ready to dedicate her child to the Church. The lover with whom she lived in pretended matrimony is dead, and Cecely has come to the last place on earth she expects that his family will look for her - because she has a plan. One that has nothing to do with repentance.

This most recent of the many Dame Frevisse mysteries is the third that I have read. While I don't seek them out to purchase, when I run across one I snatch it up with glee because they are terrific stories. I am no fan of mysteries in general, but these books have two things going for them that (in my view, at least) mysteries in general do not. First, they are character driven. Second, their medieval setting is meticulously accurate and utterly real. This one is the best so far, the sort of book that I read far too late into the night and then wish I hadn't finished so quickly.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 EPPIE winner REGS

Unlike "lady fiona" it's the 'religious philosphy' in this book that I enjoyed most; & prompted me to buy copies for friends.

As several reviews have mentioned, there are 2 main characters: Frevisse (a nun) & Cecely (the apostate). Frazer gives the opinions of each woman about the convent (St. Frideswide's), & "nun-hood", which couldn't be more different.

I appreciated the way Frazer dealt with knotty problems in Christian life; bringing them up without giving answers.

All in all, an exeptional book. I look forward to more like it!