The Pilgrim of Hate

The Pilgrim of Hate (1984) Ellis Peters

Set in England in 1141

The 10th Brother Cadfael novel finds the Abbey preparing for the celebration of Saint Winifred, and pilgrims arriving in hopes of a miracle. This celebration is a reprieve from the civil war that has been tearing up the country for three years.

I find I am learning more than I ever imagined about the English Civil War between King Stephen and Empress Maud (Matilda, daughter of Henry I and mother of Henry II).

It was not one man’s death, it was a bitter symbol of the abandonment of law and the rejection of hope and reconciliation.

“No good and honourable man is an enemy, though he may take the opposing side in this dissension. The fealty of this world is not for us…

I especially liked the boy Rhun, who suffers from a twisted leg, and has come on pilgrimage to Saint Winifred at the urging of his aunt and sister. He allows Cadfael to treat his leg–massaging it with ointments and such–trying to relax it after the long limp to Shrewsbury.

“But why for me? In case like mine we come by our thousands, in worse case by the hundred. How dare I ask to be among the first? Besides, what I have I can bear. There are some who cannot bear what they have. The saint will know where to choose. There is no reason her choice should fall on me.”

“Then why did you consent to come?” Cadfael asked.

Rhun turned his head aside, and eyelids blue-veined like the petals of anemones veiled his eyes. “They wished it, I did what they wanted.”

But mostly I continue to love the character of Cadfael, who is as complicated as those him helps.

Cadfael’s opponent reached round, gasping, with a long arm and a vicious dagger, and sliced a dangling streamer out of a rusty black sleeve. Cadfael lay on him with all his weight, held him by the hair, and ground his face into the earth, shamelessly exulting. He would do penance for it some day soon, but now he rejoiced, all his crusader blood singing in his veins.

This is not just a good mystery, but a tale of vengeance and forgiveness and healing.
Rating: 9/10

Published by MysteriousPress

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