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Cuthbert of Farne: A Novel of Northumbria’s Warrior Saint (Book 1 of 3: The Cuthbert Novels)
Celtic Sites & Saints, FictionWhat made a young Anglo-Saxon warrior lay down his sword and enter a monastery? Why would he turn his back on wealth and position - and women? Seventh-century England is a time of war and religious divisions that threaten to split the Church. As a reconciler and peace-maker he is much loved by those around him, and his antagonist, the powerful Bishop Wilfrid, respects him. When Cuthbert's vocation takes him to the windswept solitude of Inner Farne, his long-foretold destiny lies in wait for him. He is summoned back to become the most powerful churchman in the land. This gripping historical novel takes us to the heart of Cuthbert's world and sheds new light on the life and times of the North's favourite saint.£12.99 -
Beauty Born Anew: Part 3 of the Dorchadas Trilogy
FictionAfter the dramatic events described in The Fairest of Dreams, life has calmed a little for Douglas Romer. He is now happily settled in the Irish coastal town of Dingle with his new set of friends. But he is concerned for Kath, who has become seriously ill. This brings to Dingle her daughters with their own set of issues. Douglas invites friends from the UK and USA over to visit, all who happen to arrive just when Kath is getting very close to death. How will they all get on together? And what is going on in the troubled soul of Father Pat? And there is Alice - after his desperate bereavement, could Douglas ever love another woman? Once again it is Dorchadas who is Douglas' close companion and confidant, though he hints disturbingly about the time drawing near for him to cease his work as an angel in human form.£13.99 -
The Fairest of Dreams: Part 2 of the Dorchadas Trilogy
FictionThe story picks up from where The Face of the Deep ends. Douglas Romer has returned to Dingle, Ireland, and continues to be on sick leave following his breakdown. He is stronger following the transforming experience of Gethsemane, and yet is haunted by the fact that the killer of his wife may be turning his sights on Douglas. Once again he teams up with his friend, Dorchadas, the retired angel, and with other friends he has made in Dingle. He also encounters some other characters who, until now, he only knew as figures from the past. As the story progresses, Douglas becomes increasingly aware of the force of dark powers bearing down upon him. How will he and his friends resist their destructive force?£13.99 -
The Face of the Deep: Part 1 of the Dorchadas Trilogy
FictionDouglas Romer’s career as a Vicar comes crashing down as he fails to come to terms with his young wife’s sudden and violent death. He takes a temporary leave of absence from his Sheffield parish and heads to the coastal town of Dingle in his wife’s homeland of Ireland. Here he meets various people whose lives become intricately tied to his. Among these new friends is Dorchadas, a man who claims to be a retired angel. He also meets several people whom he never imagined meeting, not least because they come from a time long before his.£11.99 -
A New Heaven & A New Earth: St.Cuthbert and the Conquest of the North (Book 3 of 3: The Cuthbert Novels)
Celtic Sites & Saints, FictionIn 1069 Northumbria is in revolt against Norman rule. William the Conqueror’s brutal reprisal devastates the province and brings untold suffering to its people. Caught between the Northumbrian rebels and their new Norman masters, the Community of Saint Cuthbert at Durham is struggling to survive. But the mysterious influence of the Saint brings aid from the furthest corners of the kingdom—and from some of the least likely of his followers:£12.99- Thorgot, an Anglo-Norse adventurer from Lincoln on the run from the Normans
- Edith, the repudiated wife of Durham’s dean
- Aldwyn, a visionary monk of Winchcombe
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A Place of Repose: St.Cuthbert’s Last Journey (Book 2 of 3: The Cuthbert Novels)
Celtic Sites & Saints, FictionThe year is 875, and the Danish King of York, Halfden Ragnarsson, is carrying fire and sword across Northumbria, burning churches and monasteries and killing their inhabitants. The once-great Christian kingdom is at the mercy of the heathen. The monks of Lindisfarne flee, taking the relics of Saint Cuthbert and the Lindisfarne Gospels with them. Their journey in search of a new home for the Saint lasts for seven years and changes the lives of the men who bear him for ever. Katharine Tiernan's second novel is a tale of violence and intrigue, revenge and reconciliation – and of true love lost and found. An extraordinary story combines with the skilful and engaging recreation of characters and relationships at this fateful moment in the survival of Northumbria. Always in the background is the mysterious presence of Cuthbert, as the threads of destiny that will bind heathen and Christian, Dane and Saxon start to weave together.£12.99 -
Edwin: High King of Britain
Celtic Sites & Saints, FictionEdwin, the deposed king of Northumbria, seeks refuge at the court of King Raedwald of East Anglia. But Raedwald is urged to kill his guest by Aethelfrith, Edwin's usurper. As Edwin walks by the shore, alone and at bay, he is confronted by a mysterious figure - the missionary Paulinus - who prophesies that he will become High King of Britain. It is a turning point. Through battles and astute political alliances Edwin rises to great power, in the process marrying the Kentish princess Aethelburh. As part of the marriage contract the princess is allowed to retain her Christian faith. But, in these times, to be a king is not a recipe for a long life : This turbulent and tormented period in British history sees the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon settlers who have forced their way on to British shores over previous centuries, arriving first to pillage, then to farm and trade - and to come to terms with the world view of the Celtic tribes they have driven out.£8.99 -
I Julian. The fictional autobiography of Julian of Norwich.
FictionIn 1347, the first pestilence rages across the land. The young Julian of Norwich encounters the strangeness of death: first her father, then later her husband and her child. When she falls ill herself, she encounters mystical visions that bring comfort and concern. But in the midst of suspicion and menace, when the Church is actively condemning heretics, Julian is not safe. I, Julian is the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story. Battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations, and compelled by her powerful visions, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church. Helped by Thomas, a Benedictine monk from Norwich Cathedral, she writers of what she has seen and offers word of counsel to others. Julian's manuscripts are protected by trusted sisters and are passed from hand to hand, become the first book to be written by a woman in English. Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, this is a powerful fictional retelling of the life of Julian of Norwich - the mother, mystic and radical.£9.99 -
Z-Rod: Heirs of Promise
Celtic Sites & Saints, Fiction"Heirs of Promise', the second part in the gripping Z-Rod trilogy set in 6th century Scotland, intriguingly contrasts the lives of Pictish cousins striving to establish themselves - one as warlord, the other as a spiritual warrior. Styling himself on the boar, Oengus uses power and wily intelligence in a bid for independence from his overlord under the gathering gloom of war. Other shadows disturb: his ousted cousin, who bears the powerful 'Z-rod', still haunts; unrequited love for the inaccessible Alpia, consumes; and influential druids question his commitment to the volatile mother goddess. Abbot Fillan prophetically directs the exiled Taran to remake himself as a warrior-saint by acquiring nine graces. Propelled on an ominously named 'white martyrdom', Taran is tested by a series of quests and friendships to find his soul companion in his ultimate aim of 'bearing fire to the north'. The plot moves forward, with clever twists and dramatic moments that intrigue and shock the reader. The characters are sensitively depicted, their struggles laid bare, making for a complex story that the reader will follow with intrigue.£12.99 -
Z-Rod: Chosen Wanderers : A Celtic Saga of Warriors and Saints
Celtic Sites & Saints, FictionChosen Wanderers is the first book in the Z-Rod series: a gripping saga set in the upheavals of Pictish Scotland in the 6th century. At the initiation of two princes preparing one to rule the tribe, a mysterious power symbol, the Z-Rod, is tattooed on one, unleashing uncontrollable consequences. Tribal power struggles are further intensified when two Irish saints arrive whose vibrant faith and daring spirit, preserving them through the Scottish wilds, demonstrates to capricious warlords and their powerful druids, an alternative worldview of reconciliation and hope. Straddling these two worlds is a mysterious bard with prophetic abilities. His revelation has little relevance initially, but later becomes the lifeline to recover a seemingly lost destiny. What significance does the Z-Rod and 'bearing fire to the north' have on an exile, and how will anything be achieved amidst poverty and obscurity. By turns epic and homely, spiritually searching and thoroughly adventurous, this story of great undoing and remaking propels us through multiple scenes and characters in a setting which is utterly convincing in its detail.£12.99