Amazon.com Review
Modern writers rarely reach back to the feudal era as the setting for their novels, but that doesn't mean there isn't rich material from the age. At least there is in the hands of Geraldine McCaughrean. Her novel, A Little Lower Than the Angels, which won a Whitbread Prize in 1987, features a host of vivid characters, including Gabriel, a stonemason's apprentice who leaves an abusive master to play the part of an angel in a traveling play. He's so convincing that peasants shower him with coins, and Gabriel believes he's found his calling.
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From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8 Gabriel, stonemason's appren tice, flees from a bestial master to play angel in a traveling miracle play troupe. Master Garvey stages a miracle cure hoax that has believing peasants show ering the ``angel'' with coins and gifts; then a mob of plague victims over whelms the company and takes their money. A winter of healing and rest re sults in Gabriel's conviction that he has found his profession. The main charac ters are vivid beings, and McCaughrean sustains a pungent, disreputable atmo sphere, interwoven with values of loy alty, honor, and literacy. Somewhat easier to read, but in the tradition of Rosemary Sutcliff and Cynthia Har nett, . . .Lower than the Angels will il luminate the feudal era and challenge readers. Patricia Harrington, Phoe nix Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
