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BONE OF CONTENTION
by Roberta Gellis
ForgeBooks, September 2002
432 pages
$25.95
ISBN: 0765300192


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Magdalene La Batarde, whore mistress of the Old Priory Guesthouse which backs up on the ground of St. Mary Overy priory in Southwark is summoned to Oxford by her protector, William of Ypres. Sir Bellamy of Itchen, in the service of the Bishop of Winchester, King Stephen's brother, and Magdalene's landlord, is going to Oxford also, and agrees to allow Magdalene to accompany him on the treacherous journey.

Magdalene lodges at The Soft Nest, another whore house run by her friend, Florete. A house of ill repute is a handy place for men to meet secretly. They can enter at any time on the pretext of visiting one of the women and either meet with someone, or leave a message. Magdalene rents a secure back room from Florete and goes out shopping for necessities. That night, William comes to The Soft Nest and, as Magdalene is bidding him farewell, a dirty drunken lout, Aimery St. Cyr attacks her. William and another knight subdue him and two of Florete's men carry him out and leave him behind one of the drinking establishments.

The next day, Magdalene goes out to purchase some staples and embroidery materials to keep her occupied during the long days. Sir Niall, another of Winchester's men, asks her to take a young woman, Loveday of Otmoor, with her. Magdalene protests that Loveday's reputation will suffer if she comes to the house but Niall will not allow Magdalene to refuse. It seems that Aimery tried to claim that he was betrothed to Loveday and Niall wants her to go into hiding for a while. Loveday, a very strong minded young woman, insists on going with Magdalene, and she does.

Later, St. Cyr is found dead and Niall is suspected of the crime. Magdalene and Bell attempt to find the truth of the matter, and, in doing so, a great deal of the history of this meeting at Oxford is revealed to the reader. Reading historical fiction is a painless way of learning history, and in this case, we get the social chronicles as well as the political events of the time. Florete's establishment in Oxford is a step down from Magdalene's high class guesthouse in London. Gellis very deftly recounts the past history of her protagonists in a few words, so that even if you haven't read the previous books in the series, A Mortal Bane and A Personal Devil , you will not be confused at the relationships within this volume. The lives of the landed gentry and the merchant classes are well detailed, as are the minutiae of everyday living in medieval England.

Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, August 2002

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