The Virgin in the Ice

The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #6)

Set in Worcestershire, England in 1139

There had been other women, before her and after. He remembered them with gratitude, and with no guilt at all. He had given and received pleasure and kindness. None had ever complained of him. If that was a poor defense from the formal viewpoint, nevertheless he felt secure behind it. It would have been an insult to repent of having loved a woman like Mariam.

Don’t arrogate to yourself God’s own role of apportioning blame and praise, even when the blame lands on your own shoulders. That’s a kind of arrogance, too.

It was the eternal question, and the one to which there exists no answer. Why do the innocent suffer?

An old, old road, maintaining its level as easily as possible over undulating country, until it was forced to climb more steeply, as every approach must.

Characters: Cadfael, Hugh Beringar, Aline Beringar, Giles Beringar, Gilbert Prestcote, Sub-Prior Herward, Prior Leonard, Reyner Dutton, Elyas, Ermina Hugonin, Yves Hugonin, Sister Hilaria, Josce de Dinan, Evrard Boterel, Laurence d’Angers, Olivier de Bretagne, John Druel, Alain le Gaucher

Publisher: MysteriousPress

Rating: 9/10

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