The Book of Kildare

Zusatztext "Brimming with historical detail! Brigid of Kildare is authentically told with a fascinating premise. Through interwoven and parallel stories! Heather Terrell imagines the discovery of one of history's lost Celtic treasures in an immediate and highly enjoyable fashion."—Susan Fraser King! author of Lady Macbeth Informationen zum Autor Heather Terrell is also the author of The Chrysalis and The Book of Kildare . A lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms and for Fortune 500 companies, Terrell is a graduate of Boston College and of the Boston University School of Law. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family. Klappentext Rich in historical detail, Heather Terrell's mesmerizing novel Brigid of Kildare is the story of the revolutionary Saint Brigid and the discovery of the oldest illuminated manuscript in the annals of the Church, a manuscript that contains an astonishing secret history. Fifth-century Ireland: Brigid is Ireland's first and only female priest and bishop. Followers flock to her Kildare abbey and scriptorium. Hearing accounts of Brigid's power, the Church deems her a threat and sends Decius, a Roman priest and scribe, on a secret mission to collect proof of Brigid's heresy. As Decius records the unorthodox practices of Brigid and her abbey, he becomes intrigued by her. When Brigid assigns Decius a holy task-to create the most important and sacred manuscript ever made-he finds himself at odds with his original mission and faces the most difficult decision of his life. Modern day: Alexandra Patterson, an appraiser of medieval relics, has been summoned to Kildare to examine a reliquary box believed to belong to Saint Brigid. Hidden within the sacred box is the most beautiful illuminated manuscript Alex has ever seen. But even more extraordinary is the contents of the manuscript's vellum pages, which may have dire repercussions for the Catholic Church and could very well rewrite the origins of Christianity. Chapter One Rome a.d. 470 Brother, I write you in the utmost haste, trusting in God that I will find a safe way to deliver this letter unto your hands. For this very eve, I must leave Rome for an island so far outside the bounds of civilization it has never merited the attention of our dear Republic: the land of the Gaels. That the Lord has summoned me to this mission, I have no doubt. Yet, as dawn broke and I finished my prayers this morning, I would have sworn on the cross that the day would progress like every other. I settled at my desk in the chambers of the papal secretary just as the sun's rays began their full celebration of God's good day. Capturing the clarity of the earliest light is as critical to my work as a scrivener for the Lord as it is to your work overseeing the family land; thus I was alone in the study. I was preparing to record the edicts emanating from a recent council meeting when I heard my name. I turned toward the sound and, to my surprise, saw a papal page in the doorway. He said, "Brother Decius, you are to follow me to an audience in the chambers of His Holiness Pope Simplicius, bishop of Rome." The page started off down the long and winding corridors that lead to His Holiness's inner sanctum. I raced after him, wary of losing him in the labyrinthine route connecting the church's official buildings to the palace. I kept his pace, and he left me at the entryway to the pope's own chambers. A crimson tapestry separated the sacred inner sanctum from the bustle of the rest of the palace. I approached it, and though I pulled the heavy fabric aside with reverence and care, my fingers caught on the pearls and rubies sewn into the silken embroidery. In that moment of disentanglement, I know not why, I hesitated before crossing the threshold. My body began shaking, as ...

Product details

• Authors: Heather Terrell
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 09.02.2010
• EAN: 9780345505125
• ISBN: 978-0-345-50512-5
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 204 mm x 14 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature