Tea at Trianon: A Killing Season

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 12, 2012

A Killing Season

Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal of the Order of Fontevraud and her companion arrive at a castle on the English coast to help a family in crisis. Not only has the lord of the castle, Baron Herbert, forsaken his wife’s bed, but one by one their grown sons are dying under suspicious circumstances. Is it murder, or has the Devil taken possession of them? With the help of Brother Thomas, Sister Anne and Gamel the physician, Eleanor and her brother Sir Hugh seek to unravel the secrets which plague the family. In this thirteenth century thriller, there is much to be learned about medieval medicine, which was not as backward as is commonly thought. There is a great deal of medieval piety as well, with a strong emphasis on Satan, which makes the story quite dark at times, although Prioress Eleanor always lends balance and good sense to the narrative. The characters are quite true to their era in outlook and behavior; no anachronisms are to be found. They are all involved in their own personal struggles and come to greater self-knowledge by the end of the story, although as in real life it is made clear that each soul is a work in progress. The nature of marital love is explored as well as the commitment of the religious life, each vocation having its joys and challenges. The beauty of true friendship, as people in the Middle Ages understood it, shines through all the storms which surround the beleaguered castle, replacing an old curse with a new blessing. I highly recommend A Killing Season for those who love both mysteries and medieval tales.

This review originally appeared in the February 2012 edition of the Historical Novels Review.

(*NOTE: This novel was sent to me by the Historical Novel Society in exchange for my honest opinion.)