The Heaven Tree Trilogy (The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed) [Hardcover]

aka Ellis Peters (Author), Edith Pargeter (Author, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Writing as Ellis Peters, Pargeter has charmed and intrigued readers with her bestselling Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries, soon to be a TV series. Now for the first time, all three of her acclaimed Heaven Tree novels, set in 12th-century Britain, are available in the U.S. in this one handsome volume.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British novelist Pargeter is better known as Edgar Award-winner Ellis Peters, creator of the popular Brother Cadfael mysteries and the Inspector Felse series. This reissue contains her early historical novels, long unavailable in U.S.: The Heaven Tree , The Green Branch and The Scarlet Seed . Written in 1960, 1962 and 1963, respectively, they are well plotted and proficiently detailed in their depictions of domesticity, history, architecture and warfare, but they may disappoint some Cadfael fans, for they lack the crisp, canny characterization and punchy action of Pargeter/Peters's craft at its most maturely honed. The setting of each is the raucous 13th century, when King John "Lackland" clashed with the Pope and the Welsh nobility. In The Heaven Tree , sensitive Harry Talvace's artistic vision drives him to design a great church on the Welsh/English border for imperious patron Ralf Isambard, but his compassionate impulses make him a misfit in harsh feudal society. Rivalry springs between Harry and Isambard over Madonna Benedetta, a statuesque, titian-haired ex-courtesan who lives with the lord but loves the artist. Isambard condemns her to die with Harry, but one of the intended victims escapes to resurface in The Green Branch , the trilogy's best read. Here, Harry's son grows up vowing to slay the hated Isambard and gets trapped in the villain's castle, while the Welsh subplot features an adulterous liaison and its brutal aftermath. The Scarlet Seed wraps up the action with revised relationships and gothic surprises. Although not quite up to the high standards of Pargeter's later work, these colorful narratives--which rousingly depict artistic, political and romantic passions--are nonetheless a treat for her fans.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Beloved author Ellis Peters, creator of Benedictine sleuth Brother Cadfael, penned this superb trilogy under her real name nearly 30 years ago. ( The Scarlet Seed is being published here for the first time.) The story spans roughly the first third of the 13th century. Pargeter weaves her tale into the politics of medieval England and Wales, and her knowledge of the period is most impressive. The trilogy tells the story of Harry Talvace, nobly born, who has the soul and hands of an artist and mason. The subsequent two books follow the fortunes of another Harry Talvace, son of the first Harry. Pargeter's characters and her settings are vividly etched into the reader's mind. Writing feelingly about the creative genius of the artist and the complex bonds of loyalty that linked medieval men and women, Pargeter illumines a world distant in time and in outlook but makes that world immediate and unforgettable. Highly recommended for any fiction collection.
- Dean James, Houston Acad. of Medicine/Texas Medical Ctr. Lib.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 899 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; 1st edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446517089
• ISBN-13: 978-0446517089
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At least a dozen stars for this one., December 16, 2000

By 

Warlen Bassham (Bothell, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Heaven Tree Trilogy (The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed) (Hardcover)

If five stars is what a reviewer should give the top ten percent of all the books he or she has ever read, then this book has to get at least twelve! Actually, no number could do it justice; it is beyond praise.

Do you enjoy fiction that pummels you, puts you through the wringer, makes every muscle in your body ache from the mere Body English of trying to avoid the inevitable? Then this is for you. Saying that it 'puts you through the wringer' or makes you feel as though you've been 'boiled in oil,' is an atrocious understatement. I have read literally thousands of books in my life [averaging two or three a week], and nothing else comes close to the emotional impact of this one.

In the first installment of the trilogy [and the most powerful of the three] we meet someone who is a 'born artist,' and we follow the story through his life and that of his son. More to the point, both of them are truly Good People. And the combination of artistry with high moral purpose turns out to be just as deadly as we always knew it would be. To say more would be to give too much away. Suffice it to say that you will never forget these characters-- any of them.

As you begin to sense where the plot is headed, your blood turns to ice and your stomach constricts with dread. And yet, although it goes exactly where you knew it would, there's nothing predictable about it. The surprise is in how you get there.

An American writer named Ken Follett has written a book called The Pillars of the Earth, which has been very popular and has gotten rave reviews. Skip that one; read this one.

It is amazing to me that this trilogy hasn't been made into a TV miniseries or a sequence of movies a la Star Wars. I'm glad it hasn't though-- no visual treatment could come close to doing it justice. The pictures in paints in your mind's eye will be all the visual aid you'll ever need.

I recognize that I'm gushing here, but it can't be helped. This is, in my opinion, the best book ever written in the English language. Period.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Or can I make it 10 stars?, October 17, 2003

By 

Carol Lehr "yorkrose" (Sheridan, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Heaven Tree Trilogy (The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed) (Hardcover)

This has got to be one of the best and most inspiring series of all time. They are all fabulous - but I find myself reading and re-reading "The Heaven Tree" time and again - and STILL can't get to the final chapter without a box of tissues handy! Edith Pargeter/Ellis Peters is FABULOUS with character development. Don't EVER hesitate to read ANY of her books - but do make a special effort to read this. I was only sorry to hear she's died and there won't be any further additions to her library!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaven, Hell, and the immediacy of life, May 27, 2009

By 

George Cawthorne "brotherpaul" (Towson, Maryland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Heaven Tree Trilogy (The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed) (Hardcover)

I added a few sentences to several of the other reviews, but felt moved to include my own. THE HEAVEN TREE will be one of the very last books I part with. In my middle seventies, I am in the "paring down" stage of life. But I won't part with this book until the end.
I've read just about every one of Pargeter's/Peters' novels and detective stories. THE HEAVEN TREE is her best and I treasure it. From the very first paragraph of the first volume, I was riveted by her rich description.
And her characters! These are vibrant persons who live with immediacy. I taught history for four decades. I always tried to get across to my students how intensely people lived in medieval times. Life was short, death was imminent, and God, the saints, and the Devil were real. Pargeter's characters are well aware when they act basely. They KNOW when they choose evil instead of good. Hence their intensity, their immediacy, They grab our interest because we wish we could act with such intensity, even as we blench in horror at Isambard's conduct, and admire Harry Talvace's brave decency.
What a loss literature suffered with Edith Pargeter's death! How sad that her books are so hard to find. I am reminded of John Galsworthy's short story "Quality". The shoddy, the slimey, the quick sell drive out what is true, what is noble, what is admirable. I hope that this is not so in the case of THE HEAVEN TREE TRILOGY.