This installment brought us a lot more insight into the lives of French Jewry in the late 12th century (I think it's the first book where the dates that head each chapter are given in Gregorian and Jewish calendars.) The details of medieval life, work and industry are not only interesting, they're integral to the plot -- good plotting.Newman continues to develop her main characters -- Solomon and Edgar, especially, get some new wrinkles in this volume. I continue to be impressed by Newman's ability to use historical characters seamlessly and gracefully. I was surprised to find, in the Afterword, how many incidental characters are plucked from the annals!Audiobook note: I do still enjoy Donada Peters's narration, but I am a little surprised that as of this book (the third) the French Catholic characters suddenly have French accents. It means the narrator and the handful of British characters are the only ones without a put-on accent. She does them well, but I find it somewhat offputting, especially since it puts a little distance between me and Catherine, who is after all the ostensible protagonist.This installment brought us a lot more insight into the lives of French Jewry in the late 12th century (I think it's the first book where the dates that head each chapter are given in Gregorian and Jewish calendars.) The details of medieval life, work and industry are not only interesting, they're integral to the plot -- good plotting.Newman continues to develop her main characters -- Solomon and Edgar, especially, get some new wrinkles in this volume. I continue to be impressed by Newman's ability to use historical characters seamlessly and gracefully. I was surprised to find, in the Afterword, how many incidental characters are plucked from the annals!Audiobook note: I do still enjoy Donada Peters's narration, but I am a little surprised that as of this book (the third) the French Catholic characters suddenly have French accents. It means the narrator and the handful of British characters are the only ones without a put-on accent. She does them well, but I find it somewhat offputting, especially since it puts a little distance between me and Catherine, who is after all the ostensible protagonist.
Good reading. She heads straight into the religious attitudes of the era, not an easy thing to get across to a modern audience, I think. It’s hard to portray the depth of religious conviction, entirely supported by history and community, and make it convincing in characters modern people can identify with. This business of bringing a Really Different World into focus is the central idea of my own writing ambitions. I’m not certain Newman has actually pulled it off here, but I’m also uncertain as to whether that is because my skepticism just can’t make that leap or whether it is even theoretically possible at all. Still enjoyed the story.
What do You think about The Wandering Arm (2001)?
I definitely half bought this book at the used mystery bookstore for its bizarre title. Part mystery, part crazy porno. Not the book, though, which is about 12th century France, and a stolen reliquary. Interesting stuff about Christian/Jewish relations way back when. The author is a historian, and if I were a history buff of this period, a lot of this book would have made more sense to me. As it was, I kept having to re-read things to figure out what was going on. Maybe I should have read the first two books in this series first, but how could I not skip directly to "the wandering arm"!!
—Charlotte
