In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.
Robert A Heinlein
18 Comments CherryPie on Jan 30th 2011
Synopsis (from the book cover):
Set against the tumultuous backdrop of southern France, Sepulchre is the stunning new novel of obsession and revenge from the number one bestselling author of Labyrinth.
OCTOBER 1891: Seventeen-year-old Leonie Vernier and her brother Anatole abandon the gas-lit streets of Paris for the sanctuary of the Domaine de la Cade, some miles south of the medieval city of Carcassonne. But, in the ancient woods that surround the isolated country house, Leonie stumbles across a ruined Visigoth sepulchre – and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood. As she peels back the layers of the past, she uncovers the existence of a unique deck of tarot cards that are rumoured to hold the power of life and death.
OCTOBER 2007: Researching a biography of the composer Claude Debussy in the apparent tranquillity of the Pyrenean foothills. Meredith Martin also seeks the key to her own complex legacy. Armed with a haunting piece of piano music and a sepia photograph, she soon becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, an unquiet soul, and the strange events of one cataclysmic night more than a century ago.
As the Feast of All Saints approaches – when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest – Meredith is drawn inexorably to a secluded forest glade where the secrets of the past are far from buried…
Review:
Recently my Mum lent me Kate’s new book to read so I thought I better read this one first. Sepulchre had been sitting on my shelf for couple of years in my pile of ‘to read’ books. I am glad I picked out the book to read, it was a welcome change from all the non-fiction books I have been reading recently. Although the story itself is fictional there are themes within the book that relate to history and other interesting subjects that can be researched further in a factual context. It is the sort of book I think is ideal for a book group because there are lots of areas for exploration and discussion.
An unplanned Tarot reading in the modern time-line leads back to the unique Tarot deck in the medieval time-line. I found the story quite compelling as it swaps between the two time-lines, eventually drawing them together for the denouement. The story is set in the region of the Languedoc, the history of which is described in such a way that I feel compelled to visit the area.
In passing the book mentions many topics including : Cathar; Visigoth; Albigensians; Occitan; Bousquet Tarot; Asmodeus; Temple of Solomon; Paul Foster Case; Golden mean, not to mention the mysterious Audric Baillard…
Well worth a read; a chilling story with lots of twists and turns set in a perfect location with lots of teasers for further exploration.
2 Comments CherryPie on Jan 29th 2011
A lone pigeon standing on the Barbican at Leeds Castle. The Barbican was built in the 1280s and served as an initial line of defence for the bridge crossing the moat to the gatehouse.
The system of water defences was developed to its full at this time, and the Barbican was linked to the mill and straddled and protected the now much-reinfoced dam. It had three entrances, two from the dam and the main one from the south. These opened into a small central area, from which a two-arched bridge led across the moat to the gatehouse, which guarded access to the larger island.
For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.
22 Comments CherryPie on Jan 28th 2011
I lost 1.5lb over two weeks. This includes my few days away where I wasn’t in control of the meals I was served. It think all that walking at work must have helped out with the loss. It is half a mile from the car park to the office and I do a lot more walking inside the office than I used to in the old building. I am doing between four and five miles a day.
4 Comments CherryPie on Jan 28th 2011
Leeds Castle was listed in the Doomsday Book as a Saxon manor and has played many roles since then. It has been a Norman stronghold; private residence of six of six of England’s medieval queens; a palace used by Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon; a Jacobean country house; a Georgian mansion; an early 20th century retreat for the influential and famous; and now, in the 21st century it is one of the most visited historic buildings in Britain.
The first recorded appearance of Leeds in history is as early as 855, when the area of land on which the castle now stands was known as the manor of Esledes – the word ‘manor’ then meaning a unit of land, rather than necessarily a building. ‘Esledes’ derives from the Old English word meaning ’slope’ or ‘hillside’; Leeds village still stands on the slope above the valley of the river Len. In the ninth century the manor of Leeds was in the possession of the Saxon family. In the years immediately before the Norman Conquest, King Edward the Confessor granted the manor to the powerful house of Godwin, whose most famous son, Harold, was killed by the invading Normans in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, some 40 miles south of Leeds. According to the Doomsday Book, William the Conqueror’s survey of his new kingdom, the manor of Leeds in 1086 offered vineyards, eight acres of meadows and woodland, and five mills. *
When we arrived the weather was overcast and it was extremely chilly and there was an unexpected snow flurry. Trying to take photographs and keep my fingers warm at the same time was a bit of a challenge. Later in the day the weather changed completely and the sun came out, but the temperature didn’t improve very much. I was wishing I had brought my hat with me and got tempted by a new one in the castle shop.
*From the Leeds Castle Guidebook.
18 Comments CherryPie on Jan 25th 2011
