The Novice's Tale (A Sister Frevisse Medieval Mystery) by Margaret Frazer
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(Mass Market Paperback)
- Pub. Date: November 1993
- 240pp
- Sales Rank: 63,787
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: November 1993
- Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
- Format: Mass Market Paperback, 240pp
- Sales Rank: 63,787
- Series: A Dame Frevisse Mystery Series, #1
- ISBN-13: 9780425143216
- ISBN: 042514321X
Synopsis
It is the year of Our Lord's grace 1431, and the nuns of England's St. Frideswide sweetly chant their Paternosters behind gracious, trellised walls. But their quiet lives are shattered by the unwelcome visit of the hard-drinking, blaspheming dowager Lady Ermentrude, with her retinue of lusty maids and men, baying hounds, and even a pet monkey in tow. The lady demands wine, a feast, and her niece, the frail and saintly novice Thomasine.
Customer Reviews
Novice's Tale (A Sister Frevisse Medieval Mystery)by Anonymous
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September 06, 2005: In 1431, the convent of St. Frideswide's peaceful English September is disrupted by the arrival of a familiar but less-than-welcome guest. Lady Ermentrude, great aunt to the saintly novice Thomasine, always enjoys tormenting the timid girl by threatening to find her a husband before Thomasine can take her final vows. This time she's just two weeks away from that great moment. So when Ermentraude dies of poisoning in St. Fridewide's guest hall, after a hard and hasty ride on some mysterious family business, Thomasine - unlikely murderess though she might make - is nevertheless everyone's prime suspect. Everyone's, that is, except Sister Frevisse. Although she has to admit that Thomasine does look guilty, the convent's hosteler looks elsewhere instead of accepting the too-easy answer (in contrast to the 'crowner' who investigates on the King's behalf, and the rest of Lady Ermentrude's family). I seldom read mysteries. I picked this one up because of its setting in time and place, hoping for a few hours of amusement and author Frazer delivered that in spades. Sister Frevisse, a mixture of involuntarily learned worldliness and devotion to the godly, contemplative life that's her choice, is a thoroughly original character. So, in their different ways, are the tale's other major players. What pleased me most, though, was the simple joy of reading a novel that depicts medieval nuns as people. That by itself would have been more than worth the read.
Novice's Tale (A Sister Frevisse Medieval Mystery)by Anonymous
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November 06, 2002: This first book by author Margaret Frazer introduces the audience to Dame Frevisse a nun in England during the Middle Ages, Chaucer being her Uncle. Frevisse lives the life of a cloistered Nun, restricted food, talk, and praying many times a day, while trying to solve the murder of one of the nunnery's benefactors. The accused - the newest member of the nunnery, Sister Thomasine, who will in two weeks take her vows and be wed to Christ. Frazer wonderfully draws the reader into the era, with the flavor of language. Her characters are well rounded and some readers may see Frevisse as the Middle Ages answer to Miss Marple. Enjoy!!
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