Strong As Death (Catherine LeVendeur, #4)

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Strong As Death (Catherine LeVendeur #4)

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 283 ratings · 14 reviews

A former novitiate in the Order of the Paraclete, Catherine LeVendeur has had more than her share of adventures. In fact, intrigue--and murder--seem to dog her path. When Catherine chose love over churchly devotion by falling in love with her Saxon nobleman, Edgar, her family as the earnest hope that married life would settle this most headstrong and unusual woman. But fat...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published September 15th 1997 by Tom Doherty Associates (first published 1996)

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Jan 05, 2010 Clif Hostetler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: lovers of historical fiction.

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is a historical novel that takes place in southern France and northern Spain in the year 1142. This happens to be the year Peter Abelard (of Abelard and Heloise fame) died which is noted in this book. However, the main historical character being followed by this book is Peter the Venerable (1092–1156). The book focuses on his journey to Spain that year to meet with translators to make arrangements to translate the Arabic Qur'an (Koran) into Latin. Some scholars consider this to be a momento...more This is a historical novel that takes place in southern France and northern Spain in the year 1142. This happens to be the year Peter Abelard (of Abelard and Heloise fame) died which is noted in this book. However, the main historical character being followed by this book is Peter the Venerable (1092–1156). The book focuses on his journey to Spain that year to meet with translators to make arrangements to translate the Arabic Qur'an (Koran) into Latin. Some scholars consider this to be a momentous event in the intellectual history of Europe. This is about the time when some of the writings of Aristotle (and other ancients) were being translated into Latin for the first time after being lost in the years following the fall of the Roman Empire. This was a time when the Islamic scholars were more advanced than scholars of western Christendom.

However, a warning to history buffs, the history in this book is only a backdrop to a fictional murder mystery plot. It is the fourth in a series of ten books in the "Catherine LeVendeur Series" by Sharan Newman. Sharan Newman goes out of her way to make the historical setting historically accurate. Much of the book takes place within the context of a traveling caravan on a pilgrimage to pray at the fabled Spanish shrine of Santiago de Compostela. Placing the story within the setting of a pilgrimage reminds me of The Canterbury Tales. It's a context in which a wide variety of characters can be placed in close proximity, and thus is a natural setting to construct a fictional murder mystery plot. A traveling group containing multiple suspects was sort of reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express. There's even a cliff-hanger scene in the story to get the reader's adrenaline flowing.

I am impressed with the author's ability to portray medieval religious beliefs (including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) with sensitivity and realism. She is able to create sympathetic feelings within 21st Century readers for medieval religion even though the religious thinking of the time appears narrow and harsh to most modern minds. Also, by tying the book to the "Way of St. James" she has written a book about a pilgrimage that many people take today. (One source says 93,921 people made the pilgrimage in 2005). Therefore I decided to give this book four stars even though I usually limit murder mysteries to three stars because I consider the genre to be frivolous literature.
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Mar 28, 2011 Jennbarnes rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would say more like 3.5, It's a good series but it's gotten kind of boring. Kathryn's character is a little too good, and the Christian vs. Jew storyline has worn me out. I know it was a very important distinction at the time but in my California agnostic world it's hard to get excited about it. Historical mysteries are sort of my guilty pleasure, I don't read them for their literary quality or even historical accuracy. Usually I like the type with lots of action, suspense and sexual tension....more

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Jun 07, 2011 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The Middle Ages is certainly my favorite period in history. And I enjoy very much historical fiction set in the Middle Ages. Disappointed when I reached the 2oth and last volume of The Brother Cadfael Chronicles , by Ellis Peters, I had to look for another good medieval mystery series. When I say good, I mean something enjoyable, well written, and definitely well researched, as for the background setting and events.

Sharan Newman’s series, Catherine LeVendeur Mysteries, totally fits this descript...more

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Nov 14, 2008 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This marvelous historical mystery takes place during a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James in Spain during the months of March through July of 1142. Catherine (an ex-nun who had studied under both Heloise and Abelard) and her husband Edgar are taking the pilgrimage in hopes that paying homage to St. James will make Catherine fertile and bring her a child after several miscarriages.

They embark on the journey accompanied by her father, her husband, an uncle, and a cousin. Her family is unusual i...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Kellyann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This one is really excellent, set, as it is, on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Newman clearly draws on the tradition of pilgrimage journals, which were the first travel books. Fascinating!

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Sep 24, 2012 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

My favorite part of this mystery is the pilgrimage to Compostela.

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Jun 13, 2012 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery

The best part was the revelation about Solomon. Otherwise, there were too many characters that won't ever make another appearance in the series.

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Feb 09, 2012 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Historical fiction, of an era I haven't read much about. Read earlier book in this series, liked them and found the author again. Good read.

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Mar 15, 2012 Lady Knight rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: on-my-shelf-book, adult, france, historical-fiction, middle-ages, mystery, 2012-tbr-pile-read, spain

4.5 / 5

I really love Catherine and company! I love their interactions, their adventures and their personalities. This volume isn't quite as good as what's come before in terms of characters, but settings-wise this is a fabulous read for anyone interested in the Medieval fascination with shrines, pilgrimmages and the like. Looking forward to #5!

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Sep 09, 2008 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-crime, hist-fic

Although this book goes on a bit too long, the finely wrought detail about life in the middle ages makes the read worthwhile. Sharan Newman's forte lies in her ability to convey the atmosphere and ambience of everyday life in the 12th century.

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Apr 13, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like religious history or walking long distances.

One of my dreams is to take the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. This book is mystery about one such trip that took place in medieval times. So far it is a very good read.

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Nov 10, 2007 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2007, mystery, read-since-august-2006, mystery-historical

Every book I read in this series just whets my appetite for the next one. I need to slow down and savor them more.

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Feb 16, 2008 Katherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Katherine by: Teri Palanca

I have loved the Catherine Levendeur series

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Shelves: unowned

Apr 18, 2013 Deborah Brown rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About Sharan Newman

Sharan Newman is a medieval historian and author. She took her Master’s degree in Medieval Literature at Michigan State University and then did her doctoral work at the University of California at Santa Barbara in Medieval Studies, specializing in twelfth-century France. She is a member of the Medieval Academy and the Medieval Association of the Pacific.

Rather than teach, Newman chose to use her e...more Sharan Newman is a medieval historian and author. She took her Master’s degree in Medieval Literature at Michigan State University and then did her doctoral work at the University of California at Santa Barbara in Medieval Studies, specializing in twelfth-century France. She is a member of the Medieval Academy and the Medieval Association of the Pacific.

Rather than teach, Newman chose to use her education to write novels set in the Middle Ages, including three Arthurian fantasies and ten mysteries set in twelfth-century France, featuring Catherine LeVendeur a one-time student of Heloise at the Paraclete, her husband, Edgar, an Anglo-Scot and Solomon, a Jewish merchant of Paris. The books focus on the life of the bourgeoisie and minor nobility and also the uneasy relations between Christians and Jews at that time. They also incorporate events of the twelfth-century such as the Second Crusade and the rise of the Cathars.

For these books, Newman has done research at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France Méridionale et Espagne at the University of Toulouse and the Institute for Jewish History at the University of Trier, as well as many departmental archives.

The Catherine Levendeur mysteries have been nominated for many awards. Sharan won the Macavity Award for best first mystery for Death Comes As Epiphany and the Herodotus Award for best historical mystery of 1998 for Cursed in the Blood. The most recent book in the series The Witch in the Well won the Bruce Alexander award for best Historical mystery of 2004.

Just for a change, her next mystery, The Shanghai Tunnel is set in Portland in 1868.

The Shanghai Tunnel allowed Sharan Newman to explore the history of the city she grew up in. She found that the history she had been taught in school had been seriously whitewashed. Doing research in the city archives as well as the collections at Reed College and the Oregon Historical society was exciting and eye-opening. Many of the “founding fathers” of Portland turn out to have been unscrupulous financiers. Chinese workers were subject to discrimination and there was an active red light district.

On the other hand, Portland in the post-Civil War period also saw some amazingly liberal movements. Women’s rights were an important issue as was religious toleration. Even at that early date, preserving the natural environment was hotly debated.

This is the world in which Emily Stratton, the widow of a Portland merchant and the daughter of missionaries to China, finds herself.

Newman has written a non-fiction book, The Real History Behind the Da Vince Code Berkley 2005. It is in encyclopedia format and gives information on various topics mentioned in Dan Brown’s novel. Following on that she has just completed the Real History Behind the Templars published by Berkley in September of 2007.

She lives on a mountainside in Oregon.

(Text taken from: http://www.sharannewman.com/bio.html )(less)

More about Sharan Newman...

Books by Sharan Newman

Death Comes As Epiphany (Catherine LeVendeur, #1)

The Devil's Door (Catherine LeVendeur, #2)

The Wandering Arm (Catherine LeVendeur, #3)

The Difficult Saint (Catherine LeVendeur, #6)

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Strong As Death (Catherine LeVendeur #4)

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