A compelling, meticulously researched historical mystery set in a time of tremendous political upheaval, anarchy and war

In 1138, Gilles, a monk barely into manhood, is sent by the great Benedictine abbey of Bec in Normandy to its estate of Stivetun in Berchescire. His charge seems routine: to oversee the farming of the abbey’s lands and to cure the souls of its peasant tenants.

But England is in a state of political and religious upheaval, a morass that draws the naïve Gilles into a series of dilemmas which will test his ingenuity and his faith. He must contend with the self-serving Bishops of Wyncestre and Sarum; Alvric, the obdurate reeve of the village; and the seductive Maud of Walingeford. And then there is the guileful Peter of Waneting, his old mentor from Bec, who is forever shifting shape.

Gilles’ sense of justice and truth thrusts him to the forefront of calamitous events and compels him to make choices that will seal the fate of some and the salvation of many.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TIM OWEN is a historian, author, public speaker and battlefield tour guide with a flair for the dramatic.

For many years he was Head of History at Cothill House, where his teaching style was best described as theatrical, exemplified by a wardrobe of period costumes and drawers full of model battlefields. Outside of the classroom, his large-scale re-enactments of the Dam Buster Raid and the Battle of Cambrai remain school legends.

After studying Historical Geography at Cambridge University, Tim set up an events marketing company before moving into teaching. It was on his classroom stage that the Gilles of Bec books and the world of 12th century England were first acted out.

Tim Owen is Chair of the Steventon History Society and regularly speaks to large groups about history.