Customer Reviews

Vision of Light, A

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although I typically do not like religious themes, A Vision of Light is so engaging that this aspect of the book seems to make it even better. The tale of Margaret, a 14h century woman who talks to God, is interesting and thought-provoking throughout. While Margaret's relationship with God is important throughout the book, it really centers on Margaret's strength, compassion, and presence of mind in difficult situations, as she struggles though a violent marriage, the black plague, and prosecution by the Church. Judith Merkle Riley has created a wonderful, memorable character who stays with the reader long after the book is closed. If you read this, the sequel, In Search of Green Lion, is a must, as well.

I love curling up with this book on a cold winter's night. It's the ultimate comfort food.

Margaret Kendall, Riley's heroine, is a wonderful creation. She is smart, clever, earnest in her desire to help others and gifted as a healer...all of which means that she will have a difficult time in medieval England. Her life story--as she progresses from a village girl to London midwife to merchant's wife---makes for wonderful reading.

It's a rare author who can tell a story like Margaret's without becoming overly sentimental---but Judith Merkle Riley is a gited writer who manages to bring the most fantastic characters to life without ever hitting a wrong note.

My only complaint abt the book is that Riley doesn't focus enough of the marriage of Roger Kendall and Margaret---Kendall is, I think, the perfect match for Margaret and the real hero of the novel. He is one of the only characters who truly sees Margaret as she is and cherishes her. I know---most readers would undoubtedly prefer Brother Gregory (or Gilbert) as the hero but Margaret and Kendall's match and marriage seem to be the stuff of romantic dreams.

I absolutely loved this book, and it's sequel! It's actually one of my favorite books, which I discovered when browsing along in my local library. If you haven't read this one yet, definately go get a copy! It's the story of Margerate, a sensible, warm human being, who, under some bad luck, was married to an awful man. But after fighting of the plague, and her husband, she comes to live with a midwife in need of an assistant. While she is living there, she experiences 'vision of light', hence the title. After many more hardships, including being tested as a witch, and the church forbidding her to practice midwifry, she finally settles down with a jovial, wealthy merchant. For once, Margerate seems to live a quiet, steady lifestyle. That is, until she meets Brother Gregory . . .

Judith Merkle Riley's A Vision of Light is one of my favorite novels, and Margaret of Ashbury is probably the literary character I'd most like to be.

Riley's Margaret is so alive! This 14th-century Englishwoman is inspired in a "vision of light" to write her memoirs and do the unheard of - tell a woman's story. Because is she unable to write, she hires the ever-hungry, every-grumpy Brother Gregory to record her memories. Contemptuous of her ambition, he is nevertheless hungry enough to accept her offer. The story then alternates between Margaret's and Gregory's exchanges in the present and her telling the story of her life and adventures.

It's a fast-paced and interesting novel; most of all it's fun. It's also well-researched and authentic, but Riley's research is never a burden for the reader. Her touch is light, and her characters charming.

The publisher is about to re-issue A Vision of Light, but library and used copies abound.

I love this book!

If you have ever wondered how bad it was for women in the late Middle Ages, if you have ever thought that reading and writing are a burden that might not be worth it, if you have ever wondered how it would feel to be someone's property... read Vision of Light! If you have ever thought faith healing was all fakery, if you have ever thought alchemy was silly, if you have ever thought it was easy to become a monk...enjoy getting a better view of what may be happening or has happened in the world. Judith Merkle Riley creates a woman who deserves to be a legend, puts her into situations with an engaging crowd of evil, good, and thoroughly mixed characters, and I followed the results with enjoyment. I can't wait for the second installment!

I discovered this book about ten years ago while browsing through the library. Its been my favorite ever since. Its a book, magic, passion, and the perserverence of an independent woman in fourteenth century England. I recommend it to anyone's collection. Two words to the wise, though...its written with a female's perspective, so the estrogen runs high:), and its a bit slow to start so stick with it!

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a hardback version of this book many many years ago. It was my introduction to historical fiction. One of the most appealing aspects of the story is that it centers around a female character and depicts the life of women during that era. Some reviewers think Margaret is too perfect, but I see her as pure of heart. She has a gentle nature, preferring not to focus on suffering and material concerns, but to move beyond to something deeper. She is strong and perceptive despite a lack of education. I have always found her to be positive female role model.

I have gone on to read all of Riley's works and have been longing to complete the third book in the trilogy that has never been released in English. Riley inspired me to investigate the historical fiction genre that has increased over the years and led me to discover other great authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley (Mists of Avalon).

My mother loved the book so much she stole it from me and frequently lends it to friends, so needless to say I am happy that this is finally being reprinted. Overall, Riley has been a strong influence on my interest to read and opened a unique world to me.

Judith Merkle Riley has an uncanny talent for making the past come to life. Though she describes a time hundreds and hundreds of years ago, her grasp of that time and her description of it make the reader feel as if they have been transported to it. I read a short blurb of a review in which it was noted that if all history teachers were like Riley, the world would be awash in history majors. I fully agree. Riley fleshes the past out and renders it vibrant and alive. She reminds the reader that history isn't just about names and dates but about people and what they actually experienced.

Not only does Riley make history alive, she underscores the plight of women throughout the course of history. Margaret is characteristic of this. Though she is uneducated and, for most of the book, illiterate, Margaret is anything but simple. This is also a mark of Riley's talent, that she can take someone who is constantly marginalized as being "just a woman" and make her a character rich with complexities. Margaret experiences much in her life and the tale she relates to Brother Gregory is always fascinating. She bears his ridicule and that of other men with patience but is also good at asserting herself and often getting her own way. Margaret uses the perceptions of others to her advantage, allowing them to think she's too stupid to know what they're doing when, at the same time, Margaret such underestimations of her talents to her advantage. Margaret also has a wry sense of humor and a dry wit.

Brother Gregory is also an excellent character, one who seems to be one thing and yet turns out to be so much more. He and Margaret are parallel in this way; the world perceives them as one thing when, really, they are quite the opposite. Brother Gregory comes across as very human, as a man who has a bad habit of stereotyping people and who often acts in his best interest but who, in the end, has a good heart.

Riley's trilogy is off to an excellent start. It will be very interesting to see into what sort of interesting scrapes her characters will next get themselves.

There's something warm and cozy about a really excellent historical novel. You get to disappear into another space and time, as well as into a character-centric story -- and you can justify the wallow because, after all, you're learning about a historical era. It's as good a feeling as eating an entire box of chocolate chip cookies, without any pesky calories to annoy you.

A Vision of Light is, flat out, what you want from a historical novel. The storytelling is excellent, with a few plot twists I hadn't predicted. The characters are believeable; both Margaret and Brother Gregory have strengths and faults. The history is well integrated into the story, too, so you never (well *almost* never) feel as though the author walked Margeret into a scene to show off what a typical country fair was like in the 14th century, or so the author could demonstrate her scholarship. (Though if you pay attention you will certainly learn a lot.)

Mostly, though, this is just darned good reading. Margaret manages to be both a woman of her time (very religious, for example), and enlightened enough to satisfy modern readers (such as, when serving as a midwife, trying to figure out if she can construct a tool to save more babies during difficult births). In some books, that balance doesn't work, but here it truly does. Perhaps it's because Margaret is less a "heroine" than a woman simply trying to get by as we all do... and her path simply takes her to a wide range of interesting destinations. It has romance but it isn't "only" romance.

I totally fell into this book, and stayed up entirely too late at night to read "just to the end of the chapter" (never mind that it was 20 pages away). If you want just a good, enjoyable get-away-from-life novel, grab this one.

Picked up on a whim at a used library book sale, it has become a life-time favorite (I'm over 50). The other reader reviews have said a lot, all of which I heartily endorse. Having possibly the most winning heroine ever, and with utterly convincing historical detail, the tale of Margeret, the ingenuious but sensible and calmly practical Mystic, Mother and Midwife, & her obstetric forceps, which possibly get her in even more trouble than many of the other problems she survives, is the kind of story you cherish, and want to share with freinds & relatives. I can't wait to read the sequel, and the author's other works; I hope Judith Merkle Riley is going to be around a long, long time & writes much, much more. Bravo!