{"id":24320,"date":"2025-03-14T14:59:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T18:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=24320"},"modified":"2025-09-29T21:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T01:37:54","slug":"brother-cadfaels-penance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24320","title":{"rendered":"Brother Cadfael’s Penance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brother Cadfael’s Penance<\/em> (1994) Ellis Peters<\/a> (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #20)<\/p>\n

\"Brother<\/a>Set in England in 1145.<\/p>\n

This is the third time I have read this series through, but the first time I read Brother Cadfael’s Penance<\/em>, the final book in the series (there is an anthology of short stories I still have to read). I have this weird thing about not wanting to finish series, which it’s taken my almost nine years to finish this one.<\/p>\n

The problem is that this series was my bedtime reading, since cozy mysteries are good for that. Except, I hadn’t read this book before, so I didn’t know what was going to happen, so it was a terrible bedtime book.<\/p>\n

The backdrop of this series is the Anarchy, or the war between Empress Maud (Matilda, Daughter of Henry I & mother of Henry Plantagenet\/Henry II) and Stephen of Blois (1138 and 1153), and like One Corpse Too Many<\/em>, that war is front and center in this book.<\/p>\n

The voices of cold reason were talking, as usual, to deaf ears.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stephen’s faction has taken prisoners, including Olivier de Bretagne, who is unaccounted for. Cadfael gets leave to go to Coventry with Hugh where he can seek where Olivier is being held, but Cadfeal is to return with Hugh after.<\/p>\n

When Cadfael learns of Olivier’s location, he breaks his obedience and sets out in search of both Olivier and Yves Hugonin (The Virgin in the Ice<\/em>) who has been accused of murder.<\/p>\n

Both Maud and Stephen are in this story, and although we have heard tell of their flaws throughout the series, we see those flaws in action here.<\/p>\n

\u2018No!\u2019 said the empress sharply. \u2018I will not stir for one captive, the risk is too great, and too little to gain. It was presumptuous to ask it of me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is clear neither will compromise, and that the war will continue to grind the county to pieces.<\/p>\n

Although Cadfael, Olivier, and Yves are main characters, the story truly centers of Philip, who has tired of seeing the country torn apart, and switches sides in the hope it would help bring about peace. (Spoiler: it doesn’t.) <\/p>\n

He moved in silence, with a kind of contained violence, as if his mind was forcing his body into motion as the only means of relief from the smouldering turmoil within.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As with much of the rest of the series, a central theme is redemption and forgiveness, and as always, Cadfael’s beliefs and views are pragmatic, and probably not so strange at a time when the church was undergoing change, trying to fold the Celtic church into the Roman church.<\/p>\n

If the sin is one which, with all our will to do right, we cannot regret, can it truly be a sin?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a good series, and I will try and savor the stories<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Brother Cadfael, Philip FitzRobert, Yves Hugonin, Olivier de Bretagne, Ermina Hugonin, Hugh Beringar, Abbot Radulfus, Brother Winfrid, Prior Robert, Brother Edmund, Brother Anselm, Brother Jerome, Brother Porter, Reginald FitzRoy, Bishop Roger de Clinton, Bishop Henry of Blois, Bishop Nigel of Ely, Ranulf of Chester, King Stephen, Empress Maud, Brien de Soulis, Robert Beaumont \/ Robert Bossu, William Martel, William of Ypres, Earl Robert of Gloucester, Jovetta de Montors, Isabeau, Robert de Vere, Roger of Hereford, Hugh Bigod, Brother Eadwin, Forthred of Todenham, Richard de Clare, Geoffrey FitzRichard of Clare, King David of Scotland, Humphrey de Bohun, John FitzGilbert, The Miller of Winstone, Guy Camville<\/p>\n

Publisher: MysteriousPress<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brother Cadfael’s Penance (1994) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #20) Set in England in 1145. This is the third time I have read this series through, but the first time I read Brother Cadfael’s Penance, the final book in the series (there is an anthology of short stories I still have to read). I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,30,190,292,33,8],"tags":[120,119,549,877,878],"class_list":["post-24320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-brother-cadfael","tag-ellis-peters","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-medieval","tag-the-anarchy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6kg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6158,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6158","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":0},"title":"The Confession of Brother Haluin","author":"Michelle","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1143. Brother Haluin came to the abbey as a novice, and as a brother did penance beyond what it was believed he owed. But there are some born to do penance by nature. Maybe they, lift the load\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-confession-of-brother-haluin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Confession-of-Brother-Haluin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6109,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6109","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":1},"title":"One Corpse Too Many","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1138. I enjoyed the second book as much as--if not more than--the first. Civil War is come to Shrewsbury as Maud and Stephen battle for the throne of England. (I actually had to go back and peruse She-Wolves, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"one-corpse-too-many","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/One-Corpse-Too-Many.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6116,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6116","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":2},"title":"The Leper of Saint Giles","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Leper of Saint Giles (1981) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1139. I found I hadn't purchased book four, so I skipped to book five of the Brother Cadfael series. Brother Mark has gone to Saint Giles, to minister to the lepers there, and Brother Cadfael misses his former\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-leper-of-saint-giles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Leper-of-Saint-Giles.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23744,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23744","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":3},"title":"Saint Peter’s Fair","author":"Michelle","date":"July 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Saint Peter's Fair (1981) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael) Set in Shropshire England in 1139 St. Peter\u2019s Fair is a grand, festive event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. There is a pause in the civil war racking the country in the summer of 1139, and the fair\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saint Peters Fair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Saint-Peters-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6142,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6142","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":4},"title":"The Pilgrim of Hate","author":"Michelle","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-pilgrim-of-hate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Pilgrim-of-Hate.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6146,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6146","url_meta":{"origin":24320,"position":5},"title":"An Excellent Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1141. The town of Winchester has been destroyed in the war between Maud and Stephen, and the people--as well as the Benedictine brothers and nuns--have scattered across the country to wherever they can find refuge. Two monks arrive at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"an-excellent-mystery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/An-Excellent-Mystery.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\/24320","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=24320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}