The Water Devil: A Margaret of Ashbury Novel (Margaret of Ashbury Trilogy) [Paperback]

Judith Merkle Riley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Margaret of Ashbury Trilogy | Publication Date: January 23, 2007

The final adventure in the beloved and bestselling Margaret of Ashbury trilogy, which began with A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the Green Lion.

Margaret of Ashbury is ready to settle down; the medieval healer is looking forward to an uneventful life in the country. And, indeed, life with her true love and a brood of rambunctious children is nearly perfect—except for her husband Gregory’s ever-meddling family. Finding himself deep in debt once again, Gregory’s father has plotted to sell Margaret’s daughter off in marriage to save his woodlands from a greedy abbot. In a panic, Margaret turns to her old friend Brother Malachi to help save her daughter by whatever means necessary. The tension within the feuding family rouses an ancient being that dwells in a spring at the center of the disputed woodland. The watery creature has its own plans, and its eye is on Margaret’s infant son.

Favorite characters return, the stakes are high, and the air is thick with intrigue and danger. Written with the historical accuracy, supernatural plot twists, and humor that Riley’s readers have grown to love, The Water Devil is a high-spirited adventure that brings Margaret’s odyssey to a satisfying conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in England in 1362, Riley's charming conclusion to her trilogy that began with A Vision of Light finds Margaret of Ashbury still having amusing conversations with God ("As Supreme Judge of All Things, I assure you that you are one of the half-dozen most talkative of My creations"). Margaret's scrofulous and quarrelsome father-in-law plans to use her marriageable and well-dowered daughter, Cecily, as a bargaining chip in a squabble about riparian rights and borders. But the creature who dwells in the spring in question, the eponymous Water Devil, has other plans. Fortunately, Margaret has a lovely collection of con artists and mountebanks to help her save the incorrigible Cecily from being wed to an aged lecher. But who will save her son from the Water Devil? This is a sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic, but always compassionate love story with a perfect ending. (Feb.)
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About the Author

JUDITH MERKLE RILEY is a professor of political science and has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also the bestselling author of A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the Green Lion, the first two novels in the Margaret of Ashbury trilogy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307237893
• ISBN-13: 978-0307237897
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem of a Book, April 1, 2007

By 

V. Collette "I read ergo I am" (Chesapeake, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Water Devil: A Margaret of Ashbury Novel (Margaret of Ashbury Trilogy) (Paperback)

The Water Devil is another one of Judith Merkle Riley's wonderful medieval novels about Margaret of Ashbury. It is truly a gem of a book, colorful, descriptive, humorous, and completely fascinating. Margaret is such a wonderful character, feisty and intelligent and totally fearless. She has unusual healing powers (first revealed in A Vision of Light)and a fey quality that blurs the world of spirits and demons and ghosts with her normal surroundings. The wily Brother Malachi and his ally Sister Hilde return to help Margaret once again fight the forces of evil and save her family. Margaret's husband, Sir Gilbert, is gallant but rather clueless. Her father-in-law is my favorite comic relief character. In this book he finally meets his match and the ending is truly delightfully humorous. Once again, the world of the Middle Ages, of Edward III, the Black Prince, the Duke of Lancaster and the wars with France come vividly alive as a backdrop for Margaret's story. A must for lovers of historical fiction!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome return, February 6, 2007

By 

Sherry Chiger "schiger" (New Rochelle, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Water Devil: A Margaret of Ashbury Novel (Margaret of Ashbury Trilogy) (Paperback)

Years after its publication in German (?!), the conclusion of Judith Merkle Riley's Margaret trilogy has been published in English. Unlike many other series, you needn't have read the earlier books to thoroughly enjoy this one. I barely remember the plots of the first two Margaret books and hadn't been enamored of them (Riley's later book The Oracle Glass, however, is one of my all-time favorites)--but I found The Water Devil a rollicking read.

Riley is a fluid, graceful writer. Her characters and the dynamics among them are convincing even when, at times, they shouldn't be (the relationship between Margaret and her husband, for instance, would have been considered progressive in the 1950s, let alone in the 14th century). Perhaps best of all, these are characters that one enjoys spending time with.

All that's left to do now is hope that Riley is working on her next book...

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, March 11, 2007

By 

H. Martin "I'd rather be reading..." (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Water Devil: A Margaret of Ashbury Novel (Margaret of Ashbury Trilogy) (Paperback)

I'm definitely a fan of Riley's historical fiction, and enjoyed the first two books in this series. However, I was rather disappointed with this one. The flow of the story line just wasn't there, seemed like pieces were taken out or unfinished. Also, whomever edited this book did a poor job. I lost count of how may times "Sir Hugo" was incorrectly written for "Sir Hubert". It was like a spell checker when through an did a replace on about half of the references. While I enjoyed the first two books, and the characters that Riley created, after reading this one I wonder if she just bowed to pressure to put out this one. I didn't really expect or think the series needed to continue, she's done well with creating new characters for her other novels. So, unfortunately, while I've kept many of my Riley's for my library, this book will go in my donation bin for the next trip to my local library.