Customer Reviews

The Difficult Saint: Library Edition

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When I first picked up this series, it was after I had read the Guinevere Trilogy, by the same author, Sharan Newman. My mom had gone to a conference for Mystery Writers and picked up a bunch of her books, including the first installment of her Catherine Levendeur Series. I fell in love with it, and each year my mom returns to the conference she gets me a signed copy of her latest adventure. The character was very headstrong then, but now, in this sixth part of the continuing series, Catherine has taken motherhood, and life in mideval France to a more mature level. It's very enjoyable to see how the characters of Edgar, Catherine, and their children have changed over the years in the stories, but it may not be as strong as in the first few.

In this novel, Catherine, her husband Edgar, and the rest of her family trek the miles to distant Germany to save her younger, estranged sister, Agnes, from an undetermined fate, as she was accused of the murder of her new husband. The conflicts are understandable and believable as we see her struggles to hold a family together in a time and place of racial anger and missunderstanding with the various culture clashes.

Sharan Newman's views and enterpretation of the time peroid are amazing and fantastic to see, but some of the plot becomes rediculous and confusing, as well as Catherine's strange newly-found, docile sense of motherhood. It seems that she is no longer taking on the mysteries of this novel, but leaving it to her husband. I enjoy this series very much. It is a must read! Take it from me, you should pick up this series, but don't be dissapointed if the attitude changes from book to book. The years do go by swiftly, and Catherine is, and always will be a little too headstrong for her family, no matter how any children she has! Try it out for yourself!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first five Catherine LeVendeur books, and eagerly awaited "The Difficult Saint". I was not disappointed. Once again, Sharan Newman has blended history and mystery with great success. While following Catherine as she seeks to find the murderer of her sister's husband, I was fascinated by the background setting of religious turbulance and intolerance that influences her investigation and provides the reader with insights into the climate of those times. Especially important to me was the development of Catherine's understanding of the people that she loves, as well as her wonderful relationship with her husband Edgar. I loved this book, and eagerly await the next!

I found this a difficult book to read even though it is a solid effort by Sharan Newman. It's more a book about the differences among faiths, Judaism and Christianity, Catholicism and other Christian sects. It was almost appropriate that I read the book during the Easter weekend because it is actually quite a religious effort. In this book Catherine, Edgar, Soloman and Catherine's father Hubert journey to Gernmany to save Catherine's sister Agnes who has been accused of murdering her new husband. She had just been married to him for three weeks when he died suddenly and painfully in their bedchamber. But readers are confronted with the religious unrest that occurred in Europe in 1146. Ms. Newman's research is impeccable and her characterizations and plots are superb, but that does not make her books easy to read. I found this one extremely difficult because we become so intimately acquainted with Catherine's father Hubert and his struggle to continue to deny his Jewishness while trying to keep up his Catholic front in order that he can remain available for his daughter and her young family.

Ms Newman does it again - a perfectly detailed, well-written mystery. This time, I even had a hard time figuring out "who done it", which isn't always the case with her books. Once again Catherine, Edgar, and their children are on the road. First, to visit Catherine's old convent, then on to Germany to help Catherine's sister beat a murder charge. Her lovely, graceful sister has turned her back on devoutly Catholic Catherine and her Jewish family (it's a complicated tale - your best to start with the first book, Death Comes as Epiphany and go from there!), but Catherine still feels the pull of family ties. Now, sis has been charged with her bridegroom's murder and she has no one to defend her, except Juhan, a more-than-slightly dangerous knight. Meanwhile, it's a dangerous time to be Jewish in Europe, fanatical Christians are preaching vengeance against the Jews - and Catherine's father is feeling the pull of his birth, to return to his Jewish heritage. The complexities of the family that Catherine's sister has married into make solving the mystery a bit more tricky than other Newman books. In fact, while the mystery elements are always good, they are surpassed by the development of characters and relationships. What will become of Edgar's sister Margaret (who plays a big role here) - will she find the good match for bloodlines that her birth demands, or will her attachment to Solomon (Catherine's stoutly Jewish cousin) grow, and vice versa? Will Catherine keep getting pregnant every time she leaves Paris? Will Hubert really leave it all behind to live openly as a Jew and how will that affect his wife and children? This book develops these side characters - including Solomon, one of my personal favorites and Walter, a knight from their past on his way to the crusades. Stay tuned - I have a hunch that things will continue to be very interesting for our Catherine and Edgar!

The setting for this historical novel is northeast France and northwest Germany and takes place in the mid 12th century. The politics of the time are centered around the initial organizing for the Second Crusade. Many Europeans are equipping themselves for the planned crusade, and some people resent the fact that Jewish merchants are profiting from sales of supplies to the crusaders. The fictional main characters of the story are centered around a nominally Christian family of mixed Jewish ancestry (a fact they try to keep a secret).

The historical environment described in this story is well researched by an author who is well qualified in the subject of medieval history. At a superficial level this book is a murder mystery. But for me the suspense of pending danger from anti-Jewish pogroms was more scary than the need to solve the murder mystery in order to save the falsely accused sister of the heroine. There's even a secret group of heretics (Cathars) in the story that has some appearances of being a proto-Protestant group. Of course Protestants and Anabaptists appeared hundreds of years later in the 16th Century, however this description of 12th Century society is a reminder that each age had its dissidents. So the feature of this book that I appreciated most was how it served as a window into a historical time often overlooked by writers of historical novels.

This book is fifth in a series of ten books in the Catherine LeVendeur series written by Sharan Newman. A complete list of the books in this series is listed at the end of this review.

There was an "After Word" included at the end of the book that explains which parts of the story were historical and which parts were fictional. I was suprised to learn that some of the incidents in the book that I had assumed were the writer's imagination were actually based on historical records. In particular, there is an incident of a poor washer woman saving the life of a young girl left for dead by an anti-Jewish mob that I found to be particularly dramatic, and it turns out to have been based on historical documents of that time.

Héloïse (of Abélard and Héloïse fame) and her son Astrolabius play side roles in the early part of this novel. At the time of this story Héloïse is prioress of the convent of Argenteuil, and Abélard is no longer living.

Bernard of Clairvaux is another historical character who plays a significant role in the story. Bernard was an opponent of Peter Abelard in earlier years, but in this story he is an older man speaking in support of the 2nd Crusade. Bernard's effort at silencing the fanatical French monk named Rudolphe is a true historical happening included within this novel.

The following comment is not directly related to this book, but while I'm on the subject of Bernard of Clairvaux I thought I would add this bit of trivia. He is the author of the poem often translated in English hymnals as "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." Also, Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" places him as the last guide for Dante, as he travels through the Empyrean (Paradiso, cantos XXXI-XXXIII). Dante's choice appears to be based on Bernard's contemplative mysticism, his devotion to Mary, and his reputation for eloquence.

I emailed the author to ask which character in the novel was the "Difficult Saint." Here is her reply:

"Dear Curious; The title was taken from my friend Brian McGuire's biography of Bernard of Clairvaux, but I meant it to be Lord Gerhardt, for being a Cathar saint, something highly heretical.

Thanks for asking, Sharan"

List of books in the Catherine LeVendeur series:

1. Death Comes As Epiphany

2. The Devil's Door

3. The Wandering Arm

4. Strong As Death

5. Cursed in the Blood

6. The Difficult Saint

7. To Wear The White Cloak

8. Heresy: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery

9. The Outcast Dove

10. The Witch in the Well

What a great historical fiction book this is. I'm always intrigued by the details in Ms. Newman's books. Her research is thorough and her characters are unique and enjoyable. This book is no exception. I enjoyed the parallels and differences she explored in Catherine and Agnes as sisters, and find the religious aspects to the book thought provoking. For those that have not read the rest of the series, I would recommend doing that first. But if you've read the other Catherine books, you'll enjoy this one too.

In this latest book, we get to see the lives of the aristocracy and the peasants in Trier. Catherine and her family deal with murder, family relationships, and offshoots of the established church. I am always fascinated with the glimpses of the Jewish communities as well as the disagreements within the Catholic Church. We get a feel for the difficulties of life in those days, and the strength needed to overcome them.