The Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury finds its new novice Meriet Aspley a disturbing presence, his sleep rent by nightmares so violent as to earn him the nickname of ‘Devil’s Novice’. As events take a sinister turn with the disappearance of a superior prelate, it falls to Brother Cadfael to detect the truth…
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Book Description
In his eight chronicle Brother Cadfael has to discover whether the tormented dreams of a young novice are somehow linked to the mysterious appearance of one of his superiors.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The big mystery throughout this eighth of Ellis Peters' Chronicles of Brother Cadfael is not really who, in the depths of the Salop countryside one day in the late summer of the year of Our Lord 1140, committed murder most foul upon the person of Peter Clemence, cleric to Bishop Henry of Bois - but why! And also just what the connection might be between the unfortunate demise of a harmless cleric - seemingly not even relieved of his valuables - and the latest candidate to be accepted into the noviciate of Shrewsbury's abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the nineteen-year-old, Meriet Aspley. For it is obvious, from the very opening of this book, to both reader and Brother Cadfael alike, that there is some dark secret haunting the latest entrant to the abbey. There is also little doubt that the sad fate of Peter Clemence has some bearing upon it. Equally obvious is that the mediaeval sleuth will need to have not only his wits but also all of his tact about him too, if he is to winkle out the truth behind matters here, both of the circumstances of the cleric's death and of young Meriet Aspley's sudden-found yearning for life within the cloister.
In her usual manner, Ellis Peters drip-feeds her hero and her readers alike with tantalising but measured trickles of information, permitting both to proceed but piecemeal (and at about the same pace as each other) towards the final revelation and the story's sudden resolution. Along the way, we are treated to the author's characteristically over-glamorised view of Mediaeval English life, with her entirely comforting (and rather touching) view of the honest goodness of the (Saxon) poor, as well as the essentially corrupt nature of those who would aspire to power (usually those overbearing Normans, of course).
... Read more ›2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
"They say there's a devil at him in his sleep, and it was he brought it here among them, and who knows which of them it will prey on next? The devil's novice, I've heard him called. Oh, I put a stop to that, at least aloud. But it's what they're thinking."
- Brother Paul, master of novices
"The devil is always the intruder, the stranger, the one who is different. Every successive wave of newcomers from the mainland of Europe, either from the north or the east, was the very devil in its day."
- from SHROPSHIRE: A MEMOIR OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE
While Abbot Radulfus questions the wisdom of accepting novices too young to know what they're giving up, he has no objection to a young man past nineteen entering the cloister of his own free will. Meriet Aspley, younger son of the Norman lord of Aspley, seems like a straightforward proposition: a younger son, perhaps seeking a career rather than a vocation, but surely none the worse for that as long as he strives to be a credit to the order. But Brother Paul, for one, is uneasy about him, having never before seen a postulant pursue his vows with such determination but so little joy.
By day, Meriet is all dutiful obedience, studying hard and petitioning to have his probationary term shortened, but by night he wakes the entire monastic household with violent nightmares. He's never served in the armies of either king or empress and seen little of violence save on the hunt, yet the mere sight of a fellow novice struck unconscious by a freak accident sends him into shaken silence.... Read more ›
- Brother Paul, master of novices
"The devil is always the intruder, the stranger, the one who is different. Every successive wave of newcomers from the mainland of Europe, either from the north or the east, was the very devil in its day."
- from SHROPSHIRE: A MEMOIR OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE
While Abbot Radulfus questions the wisdom of accepting novices too young to know what they're giving up, he has no objection to a young man past nineteen entering the cloister of his own free will. Meriet Aspley, younger son of the Norman lord of Aspley, seems like a straightforward proposition: a younger son, perhaps seeking a career rather than a vocation, but surely none the worse for that as long as he strives to be a credit to the order. But Brother Paul, for one, is uneasy about him, having never before seen a postulant pursue his vows with such determination but so little joy.
By day, Meriet is all dutiful obedience, studying hard and petitioning to have his probationary term shortened, but by night he wakes the entire monastic household with violent nightmares. He's never served in the armies of either king or empress and seen little of violence save on the hunt, yet the mere sight of a fellow novice struck unconscious by a freak accident sends him into shaken silence.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By S. Watts
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book arrived as specified by the delivery date and was just as described,I would order from this seller again.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very nice company to deal with and a satisfactory outcome. The book was one of Ellis Peter's best in the series
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Ellis Peters brings us an old but always compelling and emotional story - two brothers, one well loved, the other one not so well. The emotions reflected in this book are so deep that it can move you to tears and, at the same time, the suspense about the murder and which of the two brothers did it is and mounting throughout the book. Time is crucial and we are given all the clues but in the end we just want the devil's novice to return to his home, father and choose rightly between two women, one of them his brother's bride. This book has everything but love between father and son, between brothers, between man and woman is the point and makes it a thrilling read.
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