Leper of Saint Giles [Hardcover]

Ellis Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1982

A marriage has been arranged, by greedy guardians, between an ageing nobleman and a very young woman. As both parties arrive in Shrewsbury for the ceremony there is a savage killing and Borther Cadfael is called upon to investigate. Outside Shrewsbury's walls stands the leper house of Saint Giles, a sanctuary for the sick, but also a possible refuge for the hunted man...

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Soothing, but no shortage of mayhem.' OBSERVER --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ellis Peters is a pseudonym of Edith Pargeter, author of historical novels such as The Heaven Tree Trilogy. Under the name of Ellis Peters she wrote crime fiction including The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael and a more "modern" detective, Detective Chief Inspector George False. Ellis Peters won many distinguished writing awards including an Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award of the Crime Writers Association. She lived in Shropshire, England. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co (April 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688010970
• ISBN-13: 978-0688010973
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,596,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A confusion of gromwells!, October 17, 2001

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leper of Saint Giles (Brother Cadfael Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ellis Peters' fifth Brother Cadfael mystery is set against a backdrop of one of the less savoury aspects of life in Mediaeval Europe - the scourge of leprosy and the terrible disfigurements and consequent social stigmas that its sufferers endured. That is but the backdrop, however; in actuality, this is as typical a romance from the pen of Ellis Peters as it is possible to find!

The action of the story takes place just a few months after the setting for the previous Cadfael book, in the autumn of 1139. For once, the on-going civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud does not feature in the tale, which is concerned only with the impending marriage of a young, orphaned heiress to an overbearing and insufferable baron, many years her senior. It is quickly obvious that this marriage is no love-match, on either side, and has been arranged purely for the advancement of the girl's guardians and, of course, the bridegroom. It is also obvious from the outset that the would-be bride is more smitten with the squire of her affianced lord than with the baron himself and that this attraction is mutual. Most readers will quickly come to dislike Huon de Domville as much as do the young lovers. Nor will anyone be surprised where suspicion (from everyone except Cadfael) falls when the bridegroom is rather conveniently found murdered on the very morn of his wedding day!

But that's about where the clear-cut and obvious end in this plot, which needs someone of Cadfael's shrewd and observant nature to tease out all of the complex pieces of the puzzle and fit them together correctly. And this is one of those classic Cadfael tales in which it is, indeed, only the good Brother (apart, of course, from the reader) who knows the whole truth of events by the end. As in the very first book, he remains quite content to leave the others with their own version of just who is guilty of what, aware that there are times when the justice of the Good Lord and that of Man might not always be in accord.

The book is written in Ellis Peters' inimitable prose style and paints her usual vivid picture of mediaeval life, both within the cloister and without. It has its humorous moments, not least of which is the testing of Cadfael's patience and faith by his keen but clumsy new acolyte, Brother Oswin. The book also provides us with new insights into some characters from earlier books, such as Brother Mark answering a new calling amongst the sick and maimed of the lazarhouse, as well as introducing us to a new character who will be important in future books. As always, the author is to be congratulated on achieving an excellent balance between writing for readers new to the Cadfael series as well as for established fans. There should be much here to please those in the latter category without any risk of newcomers becoming confused.

The book does contain one of Ellis Peters' few technical mistakes, though, as she confuses the modern gardener's creeping gromwell (Lithodora diffusa) with one of its native relatives. In the times of this tale, creeping gromwell would have been quite unknown in Britain. It is, in any case, an acid loving plant and most definitely would not be found growing in the chalky ground in which Cadfael encounters it. Unfortunately, while its only blue-flowered native relative, the purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpuro-caeruleum) is indeed a lime lover, that plant's flowering season is over by June and so it would not still have been in bloom in October, the time of the good herbalist's investigations. This botanical mix-up need not greatly concern the reader, however. The compelling nature of Ms Peters' storytelling is sufficient to make such nit-picking details entirely unimportant.

Enjoy this book the way it was intended: as a good, solid, murder mystery and romantic novel, set in harsher times when, in many ways, life was a lot less complex than it is today.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars deception, the meaning of identity, and questions..., January 15, 2002

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leper of Saint Giles (Brother Cadfael Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ellis Peters' "The Leper of St. Giles" starts off as, and continues to be, more of a pure love story than any of its predecessors. Since it is a Cadfael story, murder and mystery do indeed rear their ugly heads. Once more, Cadfael is called (with the support of his nifty new abbot) to do more than mix herbs.

Cadfael's former apprentice Brother Mark has left the nest as the story begins. One of the great joys in this book is to see the continued growth of Mark as a minister. In fact it is Mark, more so than Cadfael, who finds himself in the center of the action in "The Leper of Saint Giles."

This is a story that has a lot to do with the meaning of identity and the impact of deception. The basic plot revolves around a lowly squire who loves a wealthy heiress. The problem is, the heiress' wretched relations are intent on marrying her off for financial gain. From this rather nasty situation springs murder and false accusation. It is the job of Cadfael and Mark to make things right.

The more I read of Ellis Peters, the more I admire her work. She had a unique literary voice. So much wisdom is imparted in each story. This is doubly true in "The Leper of St. Giles." The reader is left questioning the actions of Cadfael and pondering the meaning of Justice.

While I am left with many questions and I missed Cadfael's old buddy Hugh, I found this book to be one of the more satisfying Cadfael stories. I highly recommend "The Leper of St. Giles."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sound the clapper!, January 8, 2006

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Leper of Saint Giles: The Fifth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael (The Cadfael Chronicles) (Mass Market Paperback)

In this fifth chronicle of Brother Cadfael of the abbey of St.Peter and St.Paul of Shrewsbury, a young, reluctant heiress is brought to the abbey for a marriage, forced on her by her greedy guardians, to a much older, gross mannered man, Huon de Domville. The prospective bride loves a young squire of her own age, but all of her protests are swept away in the name of joining together, two considerable estates. On the eve of the wedding, de Domville dismisses his servants and rides out alone for one last visit to his mistress, before the marriage takes place, but is found murdered in the woods, with clues firmly pointing to the young squire, Joscelin Lucy. Lucy had been overheard in the local inn by many people the evening before, making threatening remarks about de Domville while getting fall down drunk. Joscelin is arrested but manages to elude his captors, hiding in the nearby leper colony, which is supervised by Cadfael's protege, Brother Mark. The abbot enlists the aid of Cadfael in sorting out the mess, but when the murdered body of the girl's guardian is also discoverd, only Cadfael looks in the right direction to clear up the mysteries. As ever, in these fascinating books, Cadfael emerges as a man ahead of his time, as a clear thinking problem solver who cuts through prejudice and superstition, to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion.