One of the better entries in the series

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	• The Apostate's Tale (A Dame Frevisse Mystery) Margaret Frazer Berkley Hardcover, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the best in the Series

I agree with the reviewers who have said that this is one of the best books in the series. Frazer has given us a real look into the heart of a late Medieval nun. Her views on the religous life and the struggle for perfection are very interesting. This is something that we don't come across readily in historical fiction of any type. While it is true that the mystery aspect of the book is not as all abiding as in some of the others, the historical accuracy and excellent writing give this book its value. I also would not recommend it for a first time reader to the series but if you have read others I think you will enjoy this one.

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One of the better entries in the series

This latest Dame Frevisse book from Margaret Frazer is one of the better books in the series. There's no murder to be solved, just a knotty problem for Dame Frevisse to work out. The ending is satisfying in more ways than one, with a neatly fore-shadowed little plot twist. Very enjoyable!

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kudo's!

Unlike "lady fiona" it's the 'religious philosphy' in this book that I enjoyed most; & prompted me to buy copies for friends.

As several reviews have mentioned, there are 2 main characters: Frevisse (a nun) & Cecely (the apostate). Frazer gives the opinions of each woman about the convent (St. Frideswide's), & "nun-hood", which couldn't be more different.

I appreciated the way Frazer dealt with knotty problems in Christian life; bringing them up without giving answers.

All in all, an exeptional book. I look forward to more like it!

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Playing to her strengths

I have read all the books in this series from the beginning, and it seems to me that the best titles are the ones in which Frevisse never leaves the priory, or where she at least doesn't go haring off to London or her noble cousin's keep. I would include "The Prioress' Tale", "The Reeve's Tale" and this current book in that.

Nine years ago, Sister Cecily left the convent with a handsome traveller. Now, she's back, with a son from this man, whom she could never wed. Being an apostate religious in the Middle Ages meant arrest and the threat of excommunication; certainly having a wedding was a risk they could not afford.

But following her are relatives of her dead lover, seeking her son and some legal documents she is supposed to be in possession of. Another traveller is there to spirit her away and allegedly protect her son's interests.

Along with all this, Prioress Elizabeth is showing signs of illness or strain, there are a number of other guests at the priory, including a girl who wants to be a nun in the teeth of the disapproval of her ambitious mother (although it's not presented that way at first) and all this is happening during Holy Week, stretching the already impoverished priory to its limits.

As always, Frevisse struggles with her own duties and obligations whilst trying to resolve the problems with Sister Cecily, some mysterious illnesses and all the other problems which have arisen, including the arrival of Abbot Gilberd to determine Cecily's fate and that of Prioress Elizabeth.

By the end, St. Frideswide's has a new prioress. No points for guessing who.

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Another good one, but not the best

My favorite books in the Dame Frevisse series are the earliest ones, which seem truest in spirit to their historical setting. Those books set such a high standard for me that the later ones don't quite measure up. Nonetheless, they're still better--and still strike me as much less anachronistic--than any of the other medieval series I've looked at.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

As the nuns of St. Frideswide's priory prepare for the welcome end of Lent, their peaceful expectations are overset by the sudden return of long- vanished Sister Cecely. Nine years ago she fled from the nunnery with a man. Now her lover is dead and she has come back, bringing her illegitimate son with her. She claims she is penitent, that she wants only to redeem her sin and find safe haven for the child. Neither she nor her son can be turned away, but their presence begins to stir doubts and questions in the hearts of some of the nuns about their own faithfulness to this enclosed life they've chosen to live. Sister Cecely may be penitent-however much Frevisse may doubt it-but fully truthful she is not, and as the apostate nun's lies begin to overtake her, dangers of more than one kind-and maybe murder-become an unwanted part of life in the priory.

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