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The Red Velvet Turnshoe (2009)

by Cassandra Clark(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1848540299 (ISBN13: 9781848540293)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

John Murray Publishers Ltd

series

Abbess of Meaux

review 1: The second book in the Abbess of Meaux series, set in the late 1300's, Hildegard is summoned to go on a secret mission to Italy to obtain a holy relic, the Cross of Constantine, to help protect the king. She is sent under the guise of a pilgrimage, with only her two dogs and a tournament knight as protection. Before she leaves, she is shocked and dismayed by the actions and appearance of the Abbott, for whom she has feelings that cannot be realized due to their respective positions. She joins a baggage train with a secondary mission to secure a marriage with a dowry that is being leveraged by financing trade. On their arrival in Bruges, a gruesome discovery of the dead body of a missing scribe, puts the unfortunate man's companion, a young minstrel, Pierrekyn, in jeopardy.... more Hildegard feels compassion for this young boy and helps to smuggle him out with the help of her knight, to continue their pilgrimage across the Alps. When weather separates the knight and Hildegard from the rest of their party, they come under attack and Hildegard must flee for her life. It becomes clear to Hildegard that there is more to the story of the minstrel and the clerk than initially meets the eye and the key is the small red velvet turnshoe in e possession. In addition, she finds that she is being pursued by an old adversary. Hildegard finds herself in the midst of political intrigue that may cause great upheaval in England. She must find a way to complete her many missions and solve the mystery of the shoe while staying alive. The book is filled with the historical turmoil and intrigue of the period.
review 2: I much preferred this second book in the Abbess of Meaux series. Set in the 1300's, a time when England is being devastated by a power struggle between its current King and those who would like to replace him and the church has been divided between 2 rival popes, it tells the take of Hildegarde, a nun, who is sent from her home in the North of England to retrieve a relic in Italy. She is accompanied at various times in her journey by a tournament Knight, a minstrel, merchants, a group of mercenaries and assorted other characters. The beauty of having a heroine from a religious order is that she can mix with both the high and low born of the Mediaeval world and this series gives a wonderful depiction of both the splendour and the hardships of this time. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of political and religious history and the descriptions of life at that time both for those in religious orders and for both rich and poor in the greater community. Sitting and reading this book by a warm fire, with a glass of wine and some mediaeval music playing in the background was bliss! less

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