Forsaken Soul

A Medieval Mystery

By: Priscilla Royal

Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The summer of 1273 is peaceful for most of England, except in the village of Tyndal, where Martin the cooper has been poisoned at the local inn. Martin had plenty of enemies; the killer could be anyone. Prioress Eleanor grieves for her friend, the newly bereaved Crowner Ralf, and offers what help she can. But when her own problems multiply, Eleanor has good reason to regret her kindness.

Her new anchoress terrifies her servants and welcomes visitors to her window at night. One of those visitors is Brother Thomas, a man the prioress secretly loves and whose loyalty to her as head of Tyndal Priory is now suspect.

Bodies multiply. Suspects disappear. No one likes the direction the evidence is pointing, but God's justice must be rendered - even for the forsaken soul.

©2008 Priscilla Royal (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Against an authentic backdrop of medieval life and lore, Royal once again brings alive characters who are true to their period yet exhibit emotions and feelings that 21st-century readers will recognize as their own." ( Publishers Weekly)

Excellent, but dependent on preceding books

The negative reviews here almost kept me away, but I gave in and feel well-rewarded. A good story, though not terribly tricky, the characters are what drive it. There is ample character development through this volume, though I concede that understanding what’s going on in that regard really does depend on the previous four novels. Indeed, “Forsaken Soul” would be entirely unsuccessful, it seems to me, without reading its predecessors. Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael novels aren’t so deeply interwoven, so one could start in the middle, or skip around without becoming lost. If you like a twisted mess to work through, I’m afraid this one is going to disappoint, as there’s not much of a reveal here—it’s plain who did it by the halfway point. There is a wealth of other developing points that make this a worthy tome. Incidentally, there is an amusing, Easter egg-style reference to Brother Cadfael in this book.

Another solid performance in this intriguing mystery series

I still find a few faults in the execution of this series: some modern – day concepts especially regarding business practices, some medical terms which I don’t think I’ve been discovered in the 13th century and other concepts and spoken thoughts. All of that however can be glossed over as the rest of the story is engaging in the writing is solid both in the mechanics, the flow of the plot, the characterization, the setting, etc. The reason I did not give this five stars, and you might think this is petty, but to change your narrator is jarring and this narrator doesn’t know how to pronounce words that end in “S’s.” For some reason, whether this is a British thing, or something unique to the narrator, she doesn’t pronounce the second “S“, and if you read any of my other reviews, you know that I am a stickler for “proper usage“ and all of its forms. I really hope they switch back to the previous narrator or to a different one, because this “mistake“ gets on my last nerve. As in my other reviews, if you, dear reader, are able to cross over “little mistakes“ like these, then I think you will enjoy the continuation of this series.

Very interesting for the historian

While the story may not be especially praise-worthy, the way it is written and presented IS. I love books about the religious life of the middle ages and have never read/heard one as fascinating as this. I have a totally new vision of what life in the 13th century might have been like. The author has a prosaic tenor to her story, which lends itself beautifully to the illusion. How I wish I had the command of our language she has.
It does appear that this is not the first in this series of books based on the characters central to this story, but it was not an unbearable problem. I must now, however, seek out the earlier books, for I truly loved the author's writing style. She is not only a thorough historian but a beautiful writer as well. I do recommend this book for those who enjoy visiting the distant past in a believable way.
(for the feminists in the crowd, it will reveal a bit about just how far we have come in these 8 centuries.)

A surprisingly interesting book

Endure the first 5 minutes where there’s a shrill voiced character. Sister Ruth is not heard from much more. The story is engaging and the ancient vocabulary is a rather interesting side research project. I truly enjoyed the main characters inner turmoils and how the mystery plays out.

Narrator excellent Story poor

I love this narrator and seek out books she’s read. The story is an overly long rehashing of how the devil’s gonna get ya. Or maybe already has. The few who were literate in the 13th century were deeply involved in organized religion and one wonders if the writings the work draws from even begins to represent ordinary folk.

Enjoyable

This is not one of literature's greats, but it's a good read. The characters are original and interesting, and facts about time and place are presented in an informative yet natural way. The author does a poor job of making this a stand-alone, with references to past events that are either not tied in or tied in clumsily, but I still found it worth the purchase. I will read more of her titles.

AUDIO: Good job.

Took me a minute...

After listening to the same lady reader for 4 books it took me a minute to ger used to this new lady. I perfer the first lady of books 1-4, but I guess we will muddle thru if this new lady is reading the rest of the books.

Painful

Don't waste your money - difficult to slog through. Main characters very shallow, poorly developed, and without apparent redeeming characteristics. This was especially true for the Crowner who was portrayed as an unlikeable, clueless oaf. My dislike of this book lies not with the reader, but with the text.

Okay

I agree with some of the other reviewers. The reader is excellent. The story she is reading, while some of the details are interesting, is tough to slog through. This isn't the first book in the Prioress Eleanor series. The characters in this book behave in ways related to events in previous books that are not explained to us. Some of the plot doesn't make sense for this reason.

A medieval slog

i'm trying to finish this book, but it's very convoluted. The characters are confusing and the entire point is lost on me. Some authors give too much information, with this one, I don't think she's given enough. Good reader, though, so 2 stars.