Fiorella de Maria

Set in post WWII small English village-which was interesting. I haven't seen a lot of immediate post WWII books. It is interesting to think about the devastation that was left after the War. The village characters were not as fun as Agatha C village characters and I felt very "Meh" about Fr. Gabriel himself. Mystery was OK. I'm really hoping the series develops as it goes on!

Poor Banished Children. Fiorella de Maria. 2011. The second of the 3 books Marinella and Doug lent me is a historical novel about the Barbary pirates and a young woman’s determination to survive with her honor. In seventeenth century England a mysterious young woman is washed ashore. She knows no English and we learn her story in flashbacks as she makes her confession to a priest. After her family deserted her, a priest took her in and educated her in the classics as well as medicine. She show more was captured by Barbary Pirates, sold to a Moslem man and eventually made her escape with the help of another priest and a pirate. Her story is full of cruelty and kindness as she struggles to gain her freedom. This was an interesting story as I’d never thought much about the horror a woman would be subjected to if she were kidnapped and sold into slavery. Cruelty and violence show less

Highlights ethics for prolife doctors in England today. A story of a doctor heroically saving patient and then being sued. Good conversation book

Very intense. Interesting ending. The main character was too guilt-ridden.