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The Treasure of Montsegur : a Novel of the Cathars
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There seems to have been an explosion of novels about medieval women in the past year or so (e.g., Susann Cokal's Mirabilis, Kate Horsley's Confessions of a Pagan Nun), and this contribution by Burnham (The Book of Angels) is a fine addition to their ranks. Jeanne is a foundling taken in by the 13th-century French Cathars and raised as one of their own. After growing up in the Cathar tradition, she must turn her back on her order for their own safety, for they were considered the worst of heretics in those dark days of the Inquisition. She is asked to guard the treasure of the order - not jewels or gold but a Bible written in the vernacular. This was the real sin of the Cathars and many other sects defined as heretics in the Middle Ages: bringing religion down to a level that could be understood by all and thereby demystifying the hierarchy of the medieval Church. Jeanne is a fierce yet tender heroine, and the quality of the writing makes what could be an obscure topic - the Albigensian Crusades - enjoyable to read. For all public libraries. - Wendy Bethel, Southwest P.L., Grove City, OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

The extermination of the Cathars, a medieval religious sect settled in southern France that condemned the Catholic Church, provides heavy historic drapery for this somewhat lightweight novel. Having barely escaped burning on a pyre along with hundreds of fellow Cathars and Cathar sympathizers following a brutal year-long siege at the mountain fortress of Montsgur, Jeanne is on the run from the Inquisition. Posing as a homeless madwoman, Jeanne recalls her past as an impulsive, sexually driven young woman raised by the saintly Cathars. When a stranger, Jerome, risks his life vouching for Jeanne to the inquisitors, Jeanne is forced to live with him, or else both will face heresy charges. Predictably, romance ensues. This contrivance allows Jeanne to tell her life story, including her survival at Montsgur, amid snuggles and pillow talk. Jeanne's mood swings from brash, intelligent and determined to innocent and meek make her seem more disjointed than complex. Burnham, author of a number of books on spiritual phenomena, including the New York Times bestseller A Book of Angels, is at her best describing mystic and spiritual matters. Jeanne's spiritual transformations ("The soldiers grab me, strip me to the waist: my breasts exposed. They beat me with their leather whips, but oh, my Lady! Each blow brings only exquisite joy. I am transported, for I am filled with Christ and yet I gaze into the glowing eyes of Christ") feel vital and immediate. Despite its flaws, Burnham's novel is an energetic, psychological imagining of the Cathar legend. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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