On This Page
Description
The fifth in Sharan Newman's highly authentic and richly praised series, Cursed in the Blood finds Catherine LeVendeur venturing to the cold and tumultuous homeland of her husband--only to realize that vast differences between Edgar's family and her own. After making the pilgrimage to Compostela and giving birth to a son, Catherine LeVendeur is looking forward to an idyllic life at home in Paris. Yet her contentment is shattered when she and Edgar receive news from his family: Edgar's two show more oldest brothers have been ambushed and murdered, and he must return to Scotland to help avenge their deaths. At first, Edgar refuses to go, knowing what may await them in his war torn homeland. But Catherine believes in family loyalty and insists upon accompanying him with their baby. Once in Scotland, Catherine is surprised to learn that Edger's family is not what she imagined: His father, Waldeve, is a cold tyrant, and his remaining siblings are distant and secretive. Separated from Edgar during their efforts to uncover the truth, Catherine is expelled from his family's care. She becomes a stranger in a strange land, searching for refuge in a country ravaged by civil war at the same time she searches for her husband. Yet she knows that any haven she finds will only be temporary until she answers this question: Who among Waldeve's enemies hates his passionately enough to destroy his whole family--including, she fears, his infant grandson? show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Fifth in the Catherine LeVendeur mystery series set in 12th century France, although this book moves our main characters over to Scotland. When two of Catherine’s husband Edgar’s brothers are brutally murdered in what is thought to be a revenge killing, his father Waldeve sends Edgar’s brother Robert to France to track him down and bring him home to help sort out the mystery and take revenge on the culprits. Robert’s arrival in Paris coincides with Catherine’s father’s being questioned by the Bishop regarding his seemingly excessive dealings with Jews. Hubert is secretly a Jew, having been adopted at a young age by a Christian family and practicing Christianity on the surface, but always living in fear of discovery of the show more true religion of his birth and his heart. He doesn’t tell Catherine about the enquiry (although she is well aware of his religion) but urges her to travel to Scotland with Edgar ostensibly to finally meet his family but actually putting her safely out of the way if anything solid should come of the Bishop’s questionings. So they trek out with James, the couple’s infant son, Willa, a young girl who helps with the baby as well as Solomon, Catherine’s cousin, as a guard/escort. Catherine finds Edgar’s home, Wedderlie, to be a cold and barbaric place after the comforts of Paris, but she endures and carries on and does become friends with Edgar’s stepmother Adalisa who speaks French. Waldeve, Edgar’s father, is a cold and cruel man that Catherine finds hard to believe is related to her beloved. As Edgar and Catherine are separated during the solving of the mystery, each on their own adventures, each discovers certain facts that don’t really add up until they are together again and can compare notes. Very well done—I have enjoyed each of these books and the characters in them as well. Interestingly, the timeline sort of parallels that of my all-time favorite historical mystery series, Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael books, although in a different place. show less
Edgar & Catherine #5. Set in 1143. OK.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
27+ Works 3,784 Members
Sharan Newman is a medieval historian and author. She took her Master's degree in Medieval Literature at Michigan State University and then did her doctoral work at the University of California at Santa Barbara in Medieval Studies, specializing in twelfth-century France. She is a member of the Medieval Academy and the Medieval Association of the show more Pacific. Newman has done research at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France Meridionale et Espagne at the University of Toulouse and the Institute for Jewish History at the University of Trier, as well as many departmental archives. show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Cursed in the Blood
- Original publication date
- 1998-06-15
- People/Characters
- Catherine LeVendeur
- First words
- "This way, Lords!"
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 198
- Popularity
- 163,884
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
