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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read, December 14, 2009
This review is from: The Night's Dark Shade (Paperback)
Father Robert Hugh Benson, one of my favorite historical novelists, had a knack for bringing to vivid life the characters and times of Reformation England, showing attention to historical detail while weaving tales fraught with danger, heroism, romance, duty, and sacrifice. The heroes and heroines of his novels--always Catholic--are eminently relatable.
In a similar vein, Elena Maria Vidal, author of Trianon, Madame Royale, and, most recently, The Night's Dark Shade, has a gift for writing beautifully while transporting one into past times and places and keeping one's attention riveted as if there oneself.
In the 13th century, Catharism--"The Great Heresy"--had swept through Languedoc, France and gained a stronghold, its adherents of noble and common stock alike. The problem was so serious the Catholic Church had instituted a crusade against the heretics, who had drawn numbers of the faithful away by their esoteric teachings. Louis VIII, crowned in 1223, would lead the crusade, reclaiming Aquitaine and much of the southern territories and leaving to his heir, St. Louis IX, a Capetian reign that extended from England to the Mediterranean.
In the midst of this medieval landscape, enter the maiden Raphaëlle de Miramande, vicomtesse, protagonist of The Night's Dark Shade, who, bereft of her father as well as her betrothed, both killed fighting alongside King Louis "the Lion" in the crusade, fears an unclear future. The Knights Hospitaller of St. John, that august military order whose members numbered the fiercest warriors against the Saracens, play a prominent part in this novel. Without giving away two much, two knights in particular represent opposite poles in young Raphaëlle's moral life--on the one hand, duty, obigation, and fidelity, and on the other, passion and temptation. Along with this, the devout Catholic maiden must contend firsthand with certain in her company who have ascribed to the Cathar heresy and its evils.
The Church's struggles today against the practices of contraception, abortion, and euthanasia are, though separated by centuries, mirrored in Catholics' struggles against 13th century Albigensian morality, a philosophy that pitted spirit against matter. The Cathars, who deemed all carnality--even married sex--an evil, and its human fruits an unfortunate consequence, held it morally preferable to engage in non-procreative sexual acts, and justified abortion (in some cases even infanticide) and euthanasia to free "entrapped" souls from their material prisons. For these reasons, Vidal's novel is timely and relevant; the spiritual battles Catholics fought then are the same ones we fight today, whether it be on the great sweeping battlefronts of national heresy--a radical individualism loosed from its moral anchorings--or the more intimate realms of the individual soul wrestling to gain self-mastery. The young girl will read The Night's Dark Shade and identify with the youthful, strongwilled protagonist; the mature woman will read this novel and relate to the newly married Raphaëlle and the sufferings so common to the married state.
The Night's Dark Shade will be a book kept on the shelves of our family library, and will be mandatory reading for my little ones once they've gotten a bit older. Maria Elena Vidal has been gifted with an eye for historical detail, an energetic imagination, an elegant writing style, and a keen and informed faith, all of which blend attractively together in this her latest work.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Thirteenth Century and Today, December 14, 2009
This review is from: The Night's Dark Shade (Paperback)
Historical fiction is a fascinating genre because when done well it reveals truths about both the past and the present. It allows us to experience both what was unique to the era of its setting while recognizing what is universal in our humanity.
The Night's Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars represents historical fiction done well, particularly when revealing the dangers of the Cathar movement in the 13th century and holding up a mirror to the 21st.
By telling the story of Raphaelle de Miramande's encounter with a castle occupied by Cathars, especially with the Perfecta who may become the young heiress' mother-in-law, Elena-Maria Vidal bravely dramatizes the consequences of Cathar teaching. I say bravely because the Cathars or Albigensians are very often depicted as heroes for their opposition to the Catholic Church or as victims for their suffering in the Albigensian crusades against them in southern France--perhaps because their admirers sympathize with their sexual ethics and their Gnostic elitism.
For instance, while being tortured in the Cathar castle Raphaelle discovers the depth of the Perfecta Esclarmonde's hatred of children. Cathar teaching holds that all matter is evil and to see a pure soul degraded by flesh is anathema to Esclarmonde. She will do anything to prevent the survival of children, in or out of the womb, healthy or disabled. She tells Raphaelle how she has forced contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia upon her family and the villagers outside the castle. This scene is chilling and yet echoes aspects of our current culture of death.
But Vidal has not written a piece of propaganda; The Night's Dark Shade offers a fast-paced plot of travel, adventure, romance and love. In addition to the physical dangers of being attacked by brigands, chased, kidnapped, and tortured, Raphaelle faces the moral dangers of falling in love with the wrong man, tempting her to infidelity to her husband and inciting gossip about their relationship. She is a young woman who faces these dangers bravely but not perfectly or insipidly.
Vidal also does not flinch from depicting the horror of the ultimate punishment meted out by the secular authority for obdurate heresy. Esclarmonde is burned alive at the stake and her husband, Raphaelle's uncle, joins her in the pyre; the onlookers--and the reader--are appalled by their agony.
Perhaps my only quibble is with the denouement of the novel--Raphaelle's husband Jacques almost too easily explains why he had been so distant from his new bride, critical and cold, leaving her to face such physical and moral dangers alone. How and why he allowed her to remain so close to Sir Martin, the Knight Hospitaller she is attracted to, when he did not trust him is also too facilely accounted for. At the end of the novel, Jacques demonstrates his love and high regard for her once they are reunited and as Raphaelle recovers from her ordeals. Vidal leaves the reader with the sense they will work together to heal the wounds of the Cathar heresy among their people with charity and good example--and with a joyfully welcomed child.
Highly recommended for historical fiction buffs of any age for its plotting, characterizations and often eloquently descriptive prose, The Night's Dark Shade is particularly suited to young readers. Anyone who enjoys the genre, however, will revel in their escape into the world of 13th century southern France.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Night's Dark Shade, January 25, 2010
This review is from: The Night's Dark Shade (Paperback)
After having read the exquisite book, Trianon- A Novel of Royal France, by Elena Maria Vidal, I couldn't wait to read The Night's Dark Shade by this excellent author. Although different from the days of Marie Antoinette, in this 13th c novel, Raphaëlle, our heroine also lives turbulent and trying times that require a strong faith to carry on at all cost.
A noble by birth, Raphaëlle had been appointed in the court of Queen Blanche, when all was well under the rule of Louis VIII- The Lion. After Louis was killed in the crusade against the Albigensians, along with Raphaëlle's father and her betrothed, the country underwent the rule of the King's young son, Louis IX. It was a trying time, with the masses rebelling and poor Queen Blanche barely holding what was left of the kingdom, together.
Raphaëlle, now practically an orphan, was given permission by the Queen to leave and live under the guardianship of her uncle- and to marry her first cousin, Raymond. A new life was promised to her, and despite the sorrow of having lost her closest loved ones, Raphaëlle bravely took on the journey towards her new life.
What was unbeknownst to her was that her uncle's castle would be dreadfully macabre...under the rule of not so much her uncle, but especially so of her aunt, Lady Esclarmonde. She was the highest priestess of the Cathars, a group of fanatically religious people who had a skewed sense of that which was moral or good. On a mission of ridding the world of children, marriage, and all essence of Christianity, the Cathars believed in adulterous relationships, strict fasting of meat, the facilitation of killing babies (born or unborn) all for the good of the planet...hmmm. The Cathars attended morbid rituals in the deep of the night, in a hollow cave where the secret gem that held all powers was kept.
Although the Cathars were sought after and tried for their heresy, the tribe thrived in living incognito amongst the people of the villages. The castle where Raphaëlle lived was home to their highest Queen- and all villagers feared her. Also despised and suffering cruelty at the hands of her husband to be, a great Cathar leader in the making, Raphaëlle planned her escape.
Throughout the book, there are many good soldiers and monks who help fight the cause, helping the innocent and the travelers along their way. One such grand man was Sir Martin, a Knight Hospitaller of Saint John. He was almost a constant presence in this book- a savior as often as he was maligned.
We meet many intricate characters in The Night's Dark Shade; each contributing to the riveting events that ensue in this well written book. I enjoyed learning about the religious differences and strongholds that this heretic religion had on those almost barbaric times. Surprisingly, I often felt that there were many similarities to some of the pejorative notions still held today by certain groups, in terms of marriage, children and morality, for the most part. The opinion of saving a world at the sake of its inhabitants and the over-indulgence at the expense of others resonated strongly in my mind as controversial topics that still make waves today, as they try to pass themselves for the norm.
It was indeed quite thought provoking to read this book- which is about not only an absorbing love story-but also about the tribulations in the name of religion, the horror in the beliefs of the times and the suffering for cause.
Will Raphaëlle's soul find peace through love and her true calling? Friendship, loyalty, deception and betrayal along with a strong religious vein are all found in this book that truly stands out on its own.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the time of the Albigensian Crusade and the heretics- specifically the Cathars in Southern France. But best of all, you'll also find a beautiful love story with a surprising twist. A must for those who love to read about religion in history with a touch of pure romance.
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