Historical Fiction

Brother Cadfael Chronicles

Published in 1977; image from Amazon.com

Edith Pargeter (1913 – 1995) wrote prolifically and profitably. She wrote books of history, poetry and fiction that won multiple awards. Using the name Ellis Peters, she wrote the Brother Cadfael Chronicles, which also became the Cadfael (ITV) television series between 1994 and 1998. Between 1977 and 1994, she wrote twenty-one books that followed an older monk, Brother Cadfael, who lived in the Abbey of Shrewsbury during the English Anarchy of the Twelfth Century, a civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. Pargeter/Ellis became a significant influence in the popular genre of historical mysteries and fictional crime detective. Readers learn about life in medieval England, benefitting from the research that Pargeter did on Shrewsbury in Shopshire, England, the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the town and her Welch ancestry. The main character, Brother Cadfael, is a Welch monk who before taking vows and joining the Abbey was a soldier in the Crusades.

Edith Pargeter in 1995, Wikimedia Commons

I read history of all kinds – university press books, scholarly articles, long-form journalism, commercial best-selling histories and historical fictions. Authors of fiction really use their imagination, but when researched well in time and place, the imagined can illuminate the past. We can’t forget that the Brother Cadfael Chronicles are from the twentieth-century, and yet the world of the 1100s in the Shrewsbury Abbey comes alive thanks to Ellis Peters.

I picked up a paperback copy of one of the Brother Cadfael books when I traveled on a red-eye flight. I don’t sleep very well on planes, so I plan ahead and bring something to read that will keep me turning the pages; usually mysteries. I liked the Cadfael story and then got some more. This was just about the time of COVID-19, so I had more time to read all the books. I had known about the television series, but the books caught my interest much more.

I find lists very motivating. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can easily share a list of all the Cadfael books. Have fun reading.

A Morbid Taste for Bones (published in August 1977, set in 1137)

One Corpse Too Many (July 1979, set in August 1138)

Monk's-Hood (August 1980, set in December 1138)

Saint Peter's Fair (May 1981, set in July 1139)

The Leper of Saint Giles (August 1981, set in October 1139)

The Virgin in the Ice (April 1982, set in November 1139)

The Sanctuary Sparrow (January 1983, set in the Spring of 1140)

The Devil's Novice (August 1983, set in September 1140)

Dead Man's Ransom (April 1984, set in February 1141)

The Pilgrim of Hate (September 1984, set in May 1141)

An Excellent Mystery (June 1985, set in August 1141)

The Raven in the Foregate (February 1986, set in December 1141)

The Rose Rent (October 1986, set in June 1142)

The Hermit of Eyton Forest (June 1987, set in October 1142)

The Confession of Brother Haluin (March 1988, set in December 1142)

A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael (September 1988, set in 1120)

The Heretic's Apprentice (February 1989, set in June 1143)

The Potter's Field (September 1989, set in August 1143)

The Summer of the Danes (April 1991, set in April 1144)

The Holy Thief (August 1992, set in February 1145)

Brother Cadfael's Penance (May 1994, set in November 1145)

Map from the front material of A Morbid Taste for Bones.

Map from the front material of A Morbid Taste for Bones.

Map from the front material of A Morbid Taste for Bones. Notice Shrewsbury on the middle-right of the page, so close to Wales.

My maternal grandmother’s grandparents were both born in Llangyndeyrn, Wales in the 1830s, long after the fictional Brother Cadfael. But learning about Wales and the Dyfed region makes connections to ancestors of long ago more real to me.