Customer Reviews

Crossing to Paradise

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Many readers of Kevin Crossley-Holland's earlier novels may remember spunky field girl Gatty from his Arthur Trilogy, which blended together the legend of King Arthur with the quest of a young Crusader also named Arthur. In CROSSING TO PARADISE, Gatty gets her own story --- and reaches places her beloved Arthur never could.

No one at Caldicot is quite sure what to do with 15-year-old Gatty. Alone in the world except for her cow, Hopeless, Gatty has been out of sorts ever since her beloved friend Arthur left for the Crusades. Sir Walter, Arthur's father, then learns that a Welsh widow, Lady Gwyneth de Ewloe, is looking for a chamber servant to accompany her and a small group of pilgrims to Jerusalem.

At first, neither Gatty nor Lady Gwyneth is sure about this arrangement. As for the other pilgrims, most of them are certain that Lady Gwyneth has made a costly mistake by asking Gatty to accompany them from England through Europe and on to Jerusalem. Gatty is unpolished and ill-mannered, filthy and dressed at first in clothes of sackcloth. But even after a bath and a new dress, Gatty continues to be impulsive, reckless and entirely too bold to be a suitable young woman.

But Gatty, who has the voice of an angel, gradually wins most members of the party over with her sweet songs and kind spirit. And, when tragedy hits, it is Gatty who leads the group to the fulfillment of its pilgrimage. By the time she returns home, she is not the same rough, shy field girl who left Caldicot. Her prospects for the future are bright, and she is no longer alone.

Crossley-Holland has developed into one of the richest chroniclers of the Middle Ages. In his Arthur Trilogy, he explored the experience of a young man's coming of age during the Crusades. In CROSSING TO PARADISE, he examines the possibilities available to medieval women --- both high-born and lowly --- and the long road of medieval pilgrimage.

CROSSING TO PARADISE is clearly inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's THE CANTERBURY TALES, and his cast of characters --- which includes a noblewoman, a cook, a stableman, a merchant and a choirmaster --- provides numerous insights into medieval lifestyles. His account of pilgrimage is lively and realistic, with memorable forays into London, Venice and Jerusalem, with all their sights, sounds, smells and intrigues. Most memorable, however, is Gatty herself, whose combination of innocence, desire for justice and ability to turn experience into song make for a compelling, complicated heroine.

At one point during their journey, Lady Gwyneth tells Gatty that each of the people they meet on their way has his or her own story and that "all the stories we step into become part of our own story. Our pilgrimage." Readers will relish the opportunity to accompany Gatty on her own pilgrimage, to make her rich story part of their own.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Fifteen-year-old Gatty is an illiterate field girl on a quiet English manor, alone in the world since the recent deaths of her father and grandmother. Then she is miraculously chosen to serve as a chamber-servant to the good and pious Lady Gwyneth on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Her life of sleeping in the cow shed with her cow Hopeless is about to seriously change. Gatty can scarcely envision the cacophony of London, let alone the fearsome Alps of France, the trickery of Venice, or the religious mysteries of Holy Sepulcher. Her angelic singing voice and indomitable bravery and loyalty soon win the hearts of the ragtag assortment of fellow pilgrims set on a journey, that in medieval times, they might never return from. Readers are treated to a Canterbury Tale-like adventure as Gatty circles the map, on the way confronting issues of abandonment, prejudice, faith, and love. This meticulously researched historical novel provides a rare treat that will broaden the imagination of adult as well as YA readers.

I haven't finished it yet, but it's definitely Kevin Crossley-Holland in all his excellence. Delivery was fantastic and much quicker than anticipated. Condition of the book is excellent.

I love this book.

It's my favorite medieval historical novel. Why? Because it gets so many things right. Lovely language. The little details of daily life. The feeling of a pilgrimage. True faith, not just religion used as a quirky character trait. Most of all, characters I could really feel for.

You can almost read this book alone, although everything in it has more meaning if you have read the trilogy that precedes it. Gatty is wonderfully alive, and certainly deserved her own book. Places that really caught my heart: when Gatty first sees Winnie (ouch), the night in Jerusalem, the end of the journey, and of course, the very end. Oliver says that Gatty went to Bethlehem for all of Caldicot, but her journey is not just proxy for the people she grew up with--she brought this reader along with her as well.

Simply luminous.

Gatty is a young peasant that has been chosen as a chamber servant to Lady Gwyneth, who is going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Gatty's simple life is changed forever as she sets out on this journey. She learns a lot about love and friendship along the way. The also learns a lot about her self as she deal with the trials and triumphs.

I would recommend this to mainly girls that are interested in historical fiction. It has too much romance for guys to get into the story. A lot of times I felt that it gave too much details about the romantic attractions that are included in the story.