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THE LAW OF ANGELS
by Cassandra Clark
Allison & Busby, February 2011
512 pages
19.99 GBP
ISBN: 074900942X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Sister Hildegard is enjoying a quiet country existence, developing a new religious establishment in a peaceful valley in Yorkshire, when there is a sudden and violent reminder of the outside world. In the unsettled times prior to the Wars of the Roses there was a crack-down by the church on dissidents, particularly Oxford scholars. This had far-reaching effects, especially noticeable at times of religious gatherings such as those leading up to the Corpus Christie celebrations. Hildegard spends this time lodging in the city of York amongst artisans and craftspeople each with their own tragedies and disasters. Central to the complex web of murder and suspicion, she works unstintingly to try to solve her own mysteries and also to ensure that clarity and justice is restored to those around her.

Clark works hard in the descriptive passages to try to create a sense of medieval England. Hildegard lodges in a house in a working yard in the city, and readers get a good feel for how people of the period lived their daily lives through the descriptions of their clothes, their homes, their working practices, and their leisure. The reader can really feel the scorching weather as Danby, the glazier, or his workers have a rest on the bench outside the workshop eating a chunk of bread, or sit under a tree in the water-meadows watching the many visitors to the city, cooking in small groups around their open fires. Much is essentially a pastoral account, although the violence of battle is also vividly described when an important relic becomes involved in the story. Descriptions of the Corpus Christie pageant itself give a good flavour of beliefs and superstitions of the time: the fear of fire; the suspicion of strangers; the words of the itinerant preachers. Details of the preparations for the plays especially were very vivid, from the platform arrangements to the costumes and the rehearsals, enough for the reader to be able to begin to see the origins of similar activities in the present day.

However, at times the present day appeared just a bit too close. The idea of a suicide vest, and occasional phrases in the dialogue such as "Let’s get this show on the road" sound just a bit too modern. A more convincing sense of the time would be achieved if there were a stronger attempt to produce convincing period dialogue. The occasional addition of a “sotwit” feels inadequate. Whilst the rest of the dialogue is very readable, it is this element of the book, in particular, that may lead readers to question the comparison with CJ Sansom made on the dust jacket.

Otherwise the book as a whole is a good mix of gentleness and violence, mystery and history - a thoroughly enjoyable read and a welcome contribution to the popularisation of social history.

§ Sylvia Maughan is a retired university lecturer, based in Bristol.

Reviewed by Sylvia Maughan, May 2011

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