Mistress of the Art of Death
3 journalers for this copy...
A book that I recently acquired for the purposes of giving it away.
I took this along as an audiobook on my day trip to Roanoke and back. All told, the audiobook was about 15 hours and my trip was only 10, so I finished it off yesterday on my day off (I intended to do housework while I listened, but I was mostly too spellbound to accomplish much). I think I am glad I had this as an ear-read, because there were a lot of dialects and accents involved in the various characters and that is often easier to listen to than to read. I don't engage in a lot of ear-reading so I am not an expert on who is a good reader of audiobooks the way some of my friends are, but I do think this woman was quite wonderful.
The story is intense, to say the least, dealing with a 12th century serial killer of children in the incredibly superstitious world of Henry II's England. Adelia is sent as the equivalent of a medical examiner to determine if the murder of Peter of Trumpington was committed by Jews, the scourge of the Medeival Church. Cambridge's Jews have been sheltering in the castle for a year after they were blamed and two of them killed for the boys death. Even though 3 more children have gone missing during that time (and show up dead when Adelia arrives), the Jews are still blamed because they are soulless devils that fly and do black magic. Adelia, as a doctor and a woman and the foster child of a Jew, is in a precarious position trying to investigate the goings on, especially with her companions Simon of Naples (another Jew) and Mansur (a Saracen). The historical setting is palpable and well-fleshed out, the discussion of medical and physical evidence of the time is graphic and explicit and bloody, and the characters are well-drawn and realistic. The entire story is well-done, and the mystery is handled well but within the proper historical setting. When I reached the point at which the killer was revealed and apprehended, where a modern mystery would be nearing the end, there was still an entire disc left. I couldn't imagine what else was left to address, but I quickly learned that the conclusion was not as easy because it needed to be historically accurate.
I came out of this book wanting to read the others in the series, wanting to learn more about Henry II and his time, and wanting to visit Salerno, where there was an ancient medical school that let women study. I also had to shake my head at how little people have changed -- the evils of the crimes in this book are still a part of society, and, what is worse, the prejudice and superstition against the "others" in society is still as strong today as it was in the 12th Century, as the current US presidential election is showing us. Sad.
All in all, I recommend the book highly, but with a caution that there is strong language and gruesome depictions of crimes against children.
I took this along as an audiobook on my day trip to Roanoke and back. All told, the audiobook was about 15 hours and my trip was only 10, so I finished it off yesterday on my day off (I intended to do housework while I listened, but I was mostly too spellbound to accomplish much). I think I am glad I had this as an ear-read, because there were a lot of dialects and accents involved in the various characters and that is often easier to listen to than to read. I don't engage in a lot of ear-reading so I am not an expert on who is a good reader of audiobooks the way some of my friends are, but I do think this woman was quite wonderful.
The story is intense, to say the least, dealing with a 12th century serial killer of children in the incredibly superstitious world of Henry II's England. Adelia is sent as the equivalent of a medical examiner to determine if the murder of Peter of Trumpington was committed by Jews, the scourge of the Medeival Church. Cambridge's Jews have been sheltering in the castle for a year after they were blamed and two of them killed for the boys death. Even though 3 more children have gone missing during that time (and show up dead when Adelia arrives), the Jews are still blamed because they are soulless devils that fly and do black magic. Adelia, as a doctor and a woman and the foster child of a Jew, is in a precarious position trying to investigate the goings on, especially with her companions Simon of Naples (another Jew) and Mansur (a Saracen). The historical setting is palpable and well-fleshed out, the discussion of medical and physical evidence of the time is graphic and explicit and bloody, and the characters are well-drawn and realistic. The entire story is well-done, and the mystery is handled well but within the proper historical setting. When I reached the point at which the killer was revealed and apprehended, where a modern mystery would be nearing the end, there was still an entire disc left. I couldn't imagine what else was left to address, but I quickly learned that the conclusion was not as easy because it needed to be historically accurate.
I came out of this book wanting to read the others in the series, wanting to learn more about Henry II and his time, and wanting to visit Salerno, where there was an ancient medical school that let women study. I also had to shake my head at how little people have changed -- the evils of the crimes in this book are still a part of society, and, what is worse, the prejudice and superstition against the "others" in society is still as strong today as it was in the 12th Century, as the current US presidential election is showing us. Sad.
All in all, I recommend the book highly, but with a caution that there is strong language and gruesome depictions of crimes against children.
This book is going to meet-up with me and hopefully going home with someone else.
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Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
6of8 said this sounded like the sort of thing I might like, so she passed it along to me. Thanks!
Adelia is the 12th century equivalent of a coroner who is called it to figure out who is killing children in Cambridge. The village is in an uproar, with the local Jewish population quarantined in the castle because the rest of the villagers believe they are guilty (even though more children have been killed since they've been there). A female doctor is anathema to social standards, so Adelia spends a lot of time sneaking around in order to do her work. I learned a lot of things that I now want to know more about: Henry II, Salerno, and 12th century Europe in general. I'll have to pick up the other books in this series at some point.
Journal Entry 5 by Melydia at Toosso Pakistani Kitchen in Rockville, Maryland USA on Sunday, January 29, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (1/29/2017 UTC) at Toosso Pakistani Kitchen in Rockville, Maryland USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Bringing to the BCinDC meetup.
Welcome to BookCrossing!
Thank you so much for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry here on this page if you haven’t already done so to let me know that this book has found a good home. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it is entirely free). If you choose to join, please consider using any previous reader of this book, or me, melydia, as the member who referred you.
I really hope you enjoy the book you found! When you’re done reading it, you can make another journal entry with your comments here to let me know what you thought of it. You can keep the book forever and ever or pass it on to someone else. If you’re giving it to someone directly, make another journal entry saying so. If you choose to leave it somewhere “in the wild” for anyone to catch, make release notes that indicate where you left it. If you register, you will be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Then you can track this book as it goes on its journey!
Welcome to BookCrossing!
Thank you so much for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry here on this page if you haven’t already done so to let me know that this book has found a good home. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it is entirely free). If you choose to join, please consider using any previous reader of this book, or me, melydia, as the member who referred you.
I really hope you enjoy the book you found! When you’re done reading it, you can make another journal entry with your comments here to let me know what you thought of it. You can keep the book forever and ever or pass it on to someone else. If you’re giving it to someone directly, make another journal entry saying so. If you choose to leave it somewhere “in the wild” for anyone to catch, make release notes that indicate where you left it. If you register, you will be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Then you can track this book as it goes on its journey!
Picked this up at a past BCinDC meetup and just found it in a bag of books I haven't yet journaled! Looking forward to reading this.