A Vision of Light
A Margaret of Ashbury Novel
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4.4 • 24 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The first book in the series, this bestselling novel introduces Margaret of Ashbury, a fourteenth-century Englishwoman with mystical abilities
Margaret of Ashbury wants to write her life story. However, like most women in fourteenth-century England, she is illiterate. Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret’s scribe, and only the threat of starvation persuades Brother Gregory, a Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the task.
As she narrates her life, we discover a woman of startling resourcefulness. Married off at the age of fourteen to a merchant reputed to be the Devil himself, Margaret was left for dead during the Black Plague. Incredibly, she survived, was apprenticed to an herbalist, and became a midwife. But most astonishing of all, Margaret has experienced a Mystic Union—a Vision of Light that endows her with the miraculous gift of healing. Because of this ability, Margaret has become suddenly different—to her tradition-bound parents, to the bishop’s court that tries her for heresy, and ultimately to the man who falls in love with her.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this bouncy first novel, 14th-century Englishwoman Margaret of Ashbury heeds a ``voice'' commanding her to compose her colorful life story. ``The minor characters are stiff and the dialogue is stilted at times,'' said PW , ``but details of clothing, crafts and interiors, as well as period scenes peopled with robbers, flagellants and strolling players, are well realized.''
Customer Reviews
Love it!
I had this book in print. I just had to have it so I could read it on my iPhone and iPad. Best book in the series of three but still all three worth getting. It's one of those books you just never wanted to see end. You really really liked the heroine.
Vision of Light
LOVE this book - the first one to get me hooked on Merkle Riley! Margaret is a simple but admirable heroine, and the cast of characters has so many that are hard to forget - wise Mother Hilde, Gilbert's crazy father... I could go on and on :)
JMR is unique in how she gets into the real grit and dirt and horrors of the time period without making it too depressing - it's just matter-of-fact so that the joy and humor of the characters' lives is still able to shine through!