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Anchoress of Shere is a fascinating and disturbing book. The main character, Father Michael Duval, is a priest living in the town of Shere in 1967. St. James church is in Shere, and has the cell in which medieval anchoress Christine was walled up. Duval is obsessed with Christine and writes her story for us to read. Set in the 1320s, it tells of Christine. beautiful daughter of the local carpenter and betrothed to the tailor's son. She is raped by the local lord and nearly dies. When she recovers, she vows to dedicate herself to God and is walled into her cell in the church from which small windows offer her the only view of the world. In Duval's conception of Christine, she seeks an absolute purity of worship. It is a vision that absorbs Duval to the point he tries to recreate his Christine, to find the woman who can achieve what he believed Christine achieved. He kidnaps Marda Stewart, a newcomer to Shere. He tries to educate her so that she chooses this vision for her own life. Marda fights for her life in any way she can. Moorcraft is an amazing writer. In Duval's story of Christine we participate in Duval's obsessions, and yet the character of Christine comes through as very real. Marda is equally real, afraid of her captor yet sometimes almost seeing his vision. Duval has the vision, yet in his obsession he slowly loses more and more of his sanity and ability to function, especially as his view of Christine is challenged. An American professor comes to meet with Duval and tells him that he has found historical information that Christine did not die in her cell, sparking Duvall's murderous rage. Is Anchoress of Shere a mystery? Not technically, perhaps, as we know from the beginning who is perpetrating the crime. Most mystery readers will, however, enjoy such an intriguing and well-written tale.
Reviewed by Mary A. Axford, May 2002
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