{"id":12341,"date":"2019-12-22T21:16:46","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T02:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12341"},"modified":"2021-12-15T21:21:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T02:21:24","slug":"the-lady-chapel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12341","title":{"rendered":"The Lady Chapel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lady Chapel<\/a><\/em> (1994) Candace Robb<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Set in England in 1365.<\/p>\n

Owen Archer and Lucie Wilton are married. She has become master apothecary in her own right–inheriting the business from her previous husband–and Owen remains her apprentice, although he still owes favors to Archbishop Thoresby. <\/p>\n

\u201cMistress Archer is of noble stock, at least on her father\u2019s side.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMistress Wilton, not Archer.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ridley frowned. \u201cAnd why is that?\u201d \u201cThe guild. The Archbishop coerced them into allowing Lucie both to continue the work she\u2019d begun as Nicholas Wilton\u2019s apprentice and to marry me. But they insisted she keep the name to remind me that I have no claims to the shop if she dies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Thoresby calls in one of those favors when a prominent member of the Mercer’s guild is murdered and his hand left for his partner.<\/p>\n

It was Thoresby\u2019s turn to lean forward. He knew Gilbert Ridley. A representative of Goldbetter and Company in London and Calais, important merchants in the King\u2019s financial dealings. Ridley was also a member of the Mercers\u2019 Guild. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho argued?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cGilbert Ridley and the dead man, Will Crounce.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know the name of the dead man?\u201d Bess shrugged. \u201cHeard it at the bakery this morning. Did you mean to keep it a secret?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thoresby often comes off as unlikable. He does, after all, hold two offices that should be in conflict: Archbishop or York and Lord Chancellor. But in this story we get glimpses as to just how complicated his is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you keep Michaelo as your secretary?\u201d \u201cOn what unsuspecting soul would I thrust him? I have come to see Michaelo as my hair shirt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Somehow, I had managed to forget just how complex these stories were, both in this historical accuracy, but also in the tales they weave.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts are rarely wise in whom we love, are they?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ambrose laughed. \u201cPraise God. What would we sing about otherwise?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story here involves revenge (somewhat obvious from the chopping off of the hand) but also politics.<\/p>\n

I want to note that although Thoresby despises Alice Perrers, the author’s opinion of her is more interesting.<\/p>\n

this powerful, enigmatic, controversial woman left little record of herself, and as surviving descriptions of Alice Perrers were written by her enemies, even those are suspect. There is no record of her relationship with John Thoresby. I based my portrait of Alice on F. George Kay\u2019s Lady of the Sun: the Life and Times of Alice Perrers (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1966), and then seasoned to taste. Alice Perrers\u2019s motives were complex\u2014 love and devotion to the King mixed with ambition and the need to secure her future; being mistress to a King, especially one who was quite old by medieval standards, was to walk on quicksand, because the King could die at any moment and leave her defenseless in the midst of her enemies. Being a commoner, she lacked the family connections that might have protected her. It is interesting that what her highborn enemies appear to have disliked most about her was her business savvy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just be aware that we are seeing her from Thoresby’s point of view in this story, and he does not like her at all.<\/p>\n

All of which makes it a complex tale, and well worth reading.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Diversion Books
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lady Chapel (1994) Candace Robb Set in England in 1365. Owen Archer and Lucie Wilton are married. She has become master apothecary in her own right–inheriting the business from her previous husband–and Owen remains her apprentice, although he still owes favors to Archbishop Thoresby. \u201cMistress Archer is of noble stock, at least on her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,33,8,41],"tags":[159,549,186],"class_list":["post-12341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","tag-candace-robb","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-owen-archer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3d3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12319,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12319","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":0},"title":"The Apothecary Rose","author":"Michelle","date":"December 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Apothecary Rose (1993) Candace Robb Set in England in ~1363. Owen Archer was Captain of the Archers for Henry, Duke of Lancaster, until an attack takes his eye. Unwilling to continue as a solider, Owen becomes a spy for Henry until the Duke's death, at which point he performs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apothecary Rose","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Apothecary-Rose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6031,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6031","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":1},"title":"The Lady Chapel","author":"Michelle","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lady Chapel (1994) Candace Robb Set England in 1365. The second Owen Archer mystery finds Owen and Lucie married--her now the Apothecary and him her apprentice. When a mercer (a trader in textiles) is murdered and his had left in the room of his business partner, Archbishop Thoresby sends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Lady-Chapel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Lady-Chapel.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6027,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6027","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":2},"title":"The Apothecary Rose","author":"Michelle","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Apothecary Rose (1993) Candace Robb Set in England 1363 I picked up random books from this series years ago, and then got frustrated because I couldn't find more books in the series, and so forgot about it. Then I saw the series pop up on an eBook sale on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Apothecary-Rose","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Apothecary-Rose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13631,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13631","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":3},"title":"A Conspiracy of Wolves","author":"Michelle","date":"December 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Conspiracy of Wolves (2019) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Set in York in 1374 It's been a year since Archbishop Thoresby died. Owen has spent the intervening time on the estate he was gifted because of Thoresby, but now both Prince Edward and York want him to decide what he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Conspiracy of Wolves","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/A-Conspiracy-of-Wolves-645x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6038,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6038","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":4},"title":"The King’s Bishop","author":"Michelle","date":"September 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The King's Bishop (1996) Candace Robb Set in England in 1367 Sir William of Wyndesore\u2019s page is found in the icy moat of Windsor Castle, and although the death doesn't look natural, the page is hurriedly buried, even though many blame Ned Townley, Lancaster's spy, who fought with him the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Kings-Bishop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/The-Kings-Bishop.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13593,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13593","url_meta":{"origin":12341,"position":5},"title":"A Vigil of Spies","author":"Michelle","date":"November 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Vigil of Spies (2008) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Set in England in 1373. Archbishop Thoresby of York is dying. There is about to be a power vacuum in York, and various power brokers are trying to influence the selection of his successor. Princess Joan, married to the heir to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Vigil of Spies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/A-Vigil-of-Spies.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}