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The Witch's Brat
The Abbey of New Minster means safety to Lovel. It is the reign of Henry I in England, and the monks protect Lovel from the people who think that, because of his crooked back and healing skills, he must be a witch. And, he has nowhere else to go.Then he meets Rahere, the Kings Jester, in the abbey and makes a bargain that will take Lovel to London, to establish a life of his own at the great hospital of St Bartholomew.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
6 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Rosemary Sutcliff
108 books680 followersRosemary Sutcliff, CBE (1920-1992) was a British novelist, best known as a writer of highly acclaimed historical fiction. Although primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults. She once commented that she wrote "for children of all ages, from nine to ninety."
Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.
Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She found her voice when she wrote The Eagle of the Ninth in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers and was runner-up in 1972 with Tristan and Iseult. In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.
Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rosema...
Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.
Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She found her voice when she wrote The Eagle of the Ninth in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers and was runner-up in 1972 with Tristan and Iseult. In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.
Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rosema...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
January 30, 2012
Given her own life story, I suppose it's not surprising how often Rosemary Sutcliff wrote about people with disabilities. I always appreciate the lack of magical healing, and the way her characters find their place in the world despite everything. This is very classically Sutcliff in that. It's a slow story, no major drama, following a boy who finds his place and a master to follow -- also quite classically Sutcliff. I liked it a lot; it goes to show you don't need major action, just small and intensely personal issues, to make an absorbing story.
January 1, 2016
Sutcliff had a quality about her that I don't see in many writers. She has a painterly eye for detail which she used to set the feel of her books. She also has an interest in and portrayal of the historically insignificant, who still should be remembered. Rahere was nothing more than a King's Jongleur. However, he had a vision and persuaded his King, Henry I, to support his vision of creating a great hospital and priory to provide medical help for the poor. That is the historical framework. Another quality of Sutcliff's is that of compassion towards the disabled. I just found the reason for that. Sutcliff herself was disabled from a very young age.
The story itself is about a disabled boy, Lovell, who is driven from his home because of suspected witchcraft by his grandmother. He ends up in a monastery where he develops his gift of growing herbs and of healing the sick. When Rahere asks him to come help him with his dream, Lovell has to choose between the safety of the monastery and the risks of helping Rahere with his dream. Read to find out which choice Lovell makes.
This is a quiet book. It is not for the child who simply needs to read a book by tomorrow. It is not even for the skilled reader. It is for that quiet child who loves reading and can appreciate messages and themes beyond the mere story.
The story itself is about a disabled boy, Lovell, who is driven from his home because of suspected witchcraft by his grandmother. He ends up in a monastery where he develops his gift of growing herbs and of healing the sick. When Rahere asks him to come help him with his dream, Lovell has to choose between the safety of the monastery and the risks of helping Rahere with his dream. Read to find out which choice Lovell makes.
This is a quiet book. It is not for the child who simply needs to read a book by tomorrow. It is not even for the skilled reader. It is for that quiet child who loves reading and can appreciate messages and themes beyond the mere story.
January 11, 2018
It's becoming a bit of a New Year's tradition to read a Sutcliff novel as first book of the year! I had this little book sitting on my shelf for quite a wee time now, so I am so glad I finally picked it up for the new year. It is fast-paced, easy-to-read and wonderful, with the heart-throbbing "little moments" that is characteristic of Sutcliff. This simple story of Lovel, with a crooked back and foot and with the gift of healing, was really special and put that little ache in my soul. I loved Rahere too. Another favourite read by a favourite author!!
February 20, 2012
The dedication for this little book is "for Margaret...who only likes my earlier books, because she says the later ones are too bloody. Here is one of the earlier kind..." And truthfully, this book, though by no means sweet and sugary (is Sutcliff ever sweet and sugary?) is written more lightly and less grimly than some of her other works. I read it in the whole of a rainy, wintry Sunday afternoon and was quite enraptured by the tale of crippled Lovel the "witch's brat," and fantastic, half mocking, half grim Rahere the king's jongleur. Though short, it lacks none of Sutcliff's vivid imagery, heart-throbbing and heart-lifting.
October 1, 2020
This was a gift for a friend who preferred her ‘earlier’ (read: more plainly oriented towards children) works, and I think it results in Sutcliff pulling her punches a little bit. It would have been a stronger book if it had been willing to be sadder and lonelier, to make more of Lovel’s feelings of rejection and isolation. You can tell that he’s never quite at home in the monastery, his affection for Brother Anselm aside; but even so it takes a while, and Nick Redpoll, to make him feel as if St Bart’s is truly his place and his calling. And that sense of confusion and frustration at not immediately fitting in is told in quite a brief and distanced way.
But nonetheless, what that firm status as a children’s book does give it is a lovely, steady, unshowy commitment to courage and kindness; to standing behind your convictions and doing the right thing rather than the easy thing.
The tiresome portrayal of women aside, I also really like its characters. Lovel is sensitive and intensely observant, but more than that, clear-sighted; he has a precise understanding of what the world around him is and should be, which won’t let him rest content with mystery or sentimentality or casual injustice. Integrity is a word I use often in talking about Sutcliff’s characters, and it's a quality that Lovel possesses in spades. I also like the visionary, almost artistic quality he brings to his healing, where he can sense almost intuitively what the damage is, just as a sculptor can look at a piece of stone and know what to make of it.
That integrity, I think, is why he and Rahere feel such an affinity. Rahere is such a creation, and I almost can’t believe he was a real person; the philosophical, melancholy jester to the king, whose sharp mind and wry scepticism conceal a tender heart. I really enjoy all of his and Lovel’s interactions - well, other than the little test at the monastery - because I think it gives both of them the opportunity to be truly listened to and seen, and for both of them this is something precious and rare. (as is typical for Sutcliff, Lovel is utterly devoted to Rahere, but for me this is the first time where it’s read less like friendship and more like a crush.) I’d love to know more about how their relationship develops.
The Witch's Brat is very much a minor Sutcliff, and probably not one I’d go out of my way to recommend, unless you’re interested in medieval medicine/the history of St Bart’s and/or are a completist. But it’s always a pleasure to spend time in her company, and everything she does has something about it to enjoy.
But nonetheless, what that firm status as a children’s book does give it is a lovely, steady, unshowy commitment to courage and kindness; to standing behind your convictions and doing the right thing rather than the easy thing.
The tiresome portrayal of women aside, I also really like its characters. Lovel is sensitive and intensely observant, but more than that, clear-sighted; he has a precise understanding of what the world around him is and should be, which won’t let him rest content with mystery or sentimentality or casual injustice. Integrity is a word I use often in talking about Sutcliff’s characters, and it's a quality that Lovel possesses in spades. I also like the visionary, almost artistic quality he brings to his healing, where he can sense almost intuitively what the damage is, just as a sculptor can look at a piece of stone and know what to make of it.
That integrity, I think, is why he and Rahere feel such an affinity. Rahere is such a creation, and I almost can’t believe he was a real person; the philosophical, melancholy jester to the king, whose sharp mind and wry scepticism conceal a tender heart. I really enjoy all of his and Lovel’s interactions - well, other than the little test at the monastery - because I think it gives both of them the opportunity to be truly listened to and seen, and for both of them this is something precious and rare. (as is typical for Sutcliff, Lovel is utterly devoted to Rahere, but for me this is the first time where it’s read less like friendship and more like a crush.) I’d love to know more about how their relationship develops.
The Witch's Brat is very much a minor Sutcliff, and probably not one I’d go out of my way to recommend, unless you’re interested in medieval medicine/the history of St Bart’s and/or are a completist. But it’s always a pleasure to spend time in her company, and everything she does has something about it to enjoy.
March 4, 2008
My first introduction to Rosemary Sutclif, the British young adult author. Discovered her during Mason's home-school year, although I never had him read this.
Wonderful text, would be engaging to many teenagers, I think.
Wonderful text, would be engaging to many teenagers, I think.
January 31, 2024
Generally considered lesser Sutcliff, I think, and for good reason. The prose is lovely but the pacing is strange; the protagonist is reactive and rarely has to make choices in the first half of the book. But I do love its handling of different modes of disability at the end.
February 3, 2018
It was beautiful.
December 23, 2012
One of Sutcliff's "earlier kinds" of stories--a small, quiet story with no action and a lot of sense of place, this book is aimed at younger readers than some of Sutcliff's more popular books. The protagonist, Lovel, is disabled and a healer, which makes him not unusual for a Sutcliff protagonist, but he's also a monk, which is unusual (on the other hand, his decision to become a monk is utterly pragmatic and almost entirely lacking in religious calling, so Sutcliff's ambivalence about organized religion is still on display).
This is also interesting because it's one of the few books with a real historical figure playing a fairly major role--Henry I's minstrel-turned monk, Rahere, is an important catalyst for both Lovel's personal journey and the plot surrounding the building of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield. I was amused by how similarly Sutcliff described both Rahere and Herluin in "Knight's Fee," although ultimately I think they are rather different characters. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I didn't adore it--it's an excellent companion to "Knight's Fee," though, beginning about a decade after that book ends and providing a different perspective on Sutcliff's version of Anglo-Norman Britain.
Note: There are a couple odd discrepancies with the historical timeline. In the book, the wreck of the White Ship takes place in December 1121, rather than November 25, 1120; and the real Rahere seems to have been a canon at least by 1115.
This is also interesting because it's one of the few books with a real historical figure playing a fairly major role--Henry I's minstrel-turned monk, Rahere, is an important catalyst for both Lovel's personal journey and the plot surrounding the building of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield. I was amused by how similarly Sutcliff described both Rahere and Herluin in "Knight's Fee," although ultimately I think they are rather different characters. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I didn't adore it--it's an excellent companion to "Knight's Fee," though, beginning about a decade after that book ends and providing a different perspective on Sutcliff's version of Anglo-Norman Britain.
Note: There are a couple odd discrepancies with the historical timeline. In the book, the wreck of the White Ship takes place in December 1121, rather than November 25, 1120; and the real Rahere seems to have been a canon at least by 1115.
September 23, 2014
I loved this!! It is an odd story about Henry Lovell, an crippled boy in 12th century England. He has the powers to heal he inherited from his Grandmother. He is chased out of his village for being the "Witches Brat" and finds solace in a monastery where he meets the King's Jongleur, Rahere (a real person). He is first a servent, then a Monk, then an Infirmarian. Rahere becomes a friar and invites Henry to join him in setting up St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.
I really felt that I had been there and met Henry and the enigmatic Rahere.
For older fiction, no pictures to support the text.
I really felt that I had been there and met Henry and the enigmatic Rahere.
For older fiction, no pictures to support the text.
January 9, 2019
The 'Witch' is just a healer woman who dies, leaving behind her fosterling, who is disabled. He finds his way to a monastary and ends up founding a hospital in London. Lovely story, set in the middle ages, based on real events and characters. Probably about age 10 and up, lower for a read aloud.
May 2, 2018
First read in 2007/2008.
June 18, 2021
What a lovely little book. I was looking for something a little lighter and shorter than usual and this shouted "pick me!" from the bookshelf. My late wife had such good taste in books.
Rosemary Sutcliffe takes the story of Rahere founding the Great St Bartholomew's Priory and Hospital in Smithfield, London and weaves into it the tale of a deformed child who is ejected by his village, who are suspicious and frightened by the effect he, apparently, has on a cow (this will be the 12th Century) and how he grows through his travels and ultimately helps Rahere in developing new healing approaches.
The story deals with topics such as deformity, witches, fear, suspicion and ignorance as well as the power of giving the opportunity to succeed, which Lovel, the main character, ultimately does.
First published in 1970 it is still a good read.
Rosemary Sutcliffe takes the story of Rahere founding the Great St Bartholomew's Priory and Hospital in Smithfield, London and weaves into it the tale of a deformed child who is ejected by his village, who are suspicious and frightened by the effect he, apparently, has on a cow (this will be the 12th Century) and how he grows through his travels and ultimately helps Rahere in developing new healing approaches.
The story deals with topics such as deformity, witches, fear, suspicion and ignorance as well as the power of giving the opportunity to succeed, which Lovel, the main character, ultimately does.
First published in 1970 it is still a good read.
October 6, 2021
Reassuring Story for Young People
A little thinner story then the books I've read of hers so far. Love!my story for those of us who feel a bit different than the main...she writes for older kids, teens and adults. This was a nice story wit h themes she covers in many of her writibgs, friendship, comradeship, overcoming mistreatment, events that haunt our dreams, sadness, joy, accomplishment, natural skills, hard work, dedication...etc. etc. etc. A lot to cover in a short novel!!! I love her writing and will read anything she w rites....one cannot possibly win awards for everything! Nice book. Good book.
A little thinner story then the books I've read of hers so far. Love!my story for those of us who feel a bit different than the main...she writes for older kids, teens and adults. This was a nice story wit h themes she covers in many of her writibgs, friendship, comradeship, overcoming mistreatment, events that haunt our dreams, sadness, joy, accomplishment, natural skills, hard work, dedication...etc. etc. etc. A lot to cover in a short novel!!! I love her writing and will read anything she w rites....one cannot possibly win awards for everything! Nice book. Good book.
February 20, 2024
This is one of those stories written for children that's also suitable for adults. This adult liked it, anyway.
Despite the title, this isn’t a supernatural tale. Rather, it’s set when people were superstitious about anyone who’s different to the norm. The ‘witch’ is a wise woman who people are a little afraid of but they seek her help for cures to ailments.
The ‘brat' is the wise woman’s grandson. He’s also humpbacked and lame, which really earns people’s distrust. After his grandmother dies early in the novel, the boy loses his protection and is persecuted.
The plot is set over several years during the first quarter of the twelfth century. Monks and monasteries are the main settings.
I like the first two-thirds of the book much more than the final third when we have a change of scenery. This involves a lot of static description regarding the main character’s journey on foot to London. Once he reaches London, my interest wanes a little. It’s not terrible or boring, but it’s lacking something that’s present earlier in the story.
Overall, though, it’s worth a read.
Despite the title, this isn’t a supernatural tale. Rather, it’s set when people were superstitious about anyone who’s different to the norm. The ‘witch’ is a wise woman who people are a little afraid of but they seek her help for cures to ailments.
The ‘brat' is the wise woman’s grandson. He’s also humpbacked and lame, which really earns people’s distrust. After his grandmother dies early in the novel, the boy loses his protection and is persecuted.
The plot is set over several years during the first quarter of the twelfth century. Monks and monasteries are the main settings.
I like the first two-thirds of the book much more than the final third when we have a change of scenery. This involves a lot of static description regarding the main character’s journey on foot to London. Once he reaches London, my interest wanes a little. It’s not terrible or boring, but it’s lacking something that’s present earlier in the story.
Overall, though, it’s worth a read.
January 3, 2023
This is such a slow, lovely read. The unlikely combination of the crippled boy with healing skills and the king's retired jester make this such a fascinating read. And the kind of confused, stream of consciousness way Lovel thinks is captured so perfectly. He doesn't really reason things out logically, he sort of intuits everything, like how he knew that if he didn't set out for the hospital, he would always have an emptiness inside him. After the heights and adrenaline of the Silver Branch, this was such a nice, relaxing stroll.
January 10, 2025
There is a certain x-factor quality about Rosemary Sutcliff's writing where I just fall right into her stories. This is a rather quaint story of Lovel. He is a character living with physical difference in a time when there was a lot of superstition regarding it. In Sutcliff's world though it never feels overly bleak and moreso a way for the reader to grow in empathy and for the protagonist to discover more inner strength than they knew they had. I loved Lovel deeply desiring to find his purpose in the world. I only wished it were longer!
January 28, 2026
Witches Brat
-highly readable story of one individuals life and the many different periods of growth he goes through, being consistently transformed into the person and situation he needs to be used of the Lord. Overarching themes include the Lord’s presence steadfastly through a life, long suffering, finding purpose and meaning in using ones gifts for God’s working, spiritual and physical healing. Lovel is a gentle, quiet character who in spite of his physical deformities, is found worthy and useful for the Kingdom. Very engagingly told tale.
-highly readable story of one individuals life and the many different periods of growth he goes through, being consistently transformed into the person and situation he needs to be used of the Lord. Overarching themes include the Lord’s presence steadfastly through a life, long suffering, finding purpose and meaning in using ones gifts for God’s working, spiritual and physical healing. Lovel is a gentle, quiet character who in spite of his physical deformities, is found worthy and useful for the Kingdom. Very engagingly told tale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2018
"You will be one of the menders of this world; not the makers, nor yet the breakers; just one of the menders. . . . When the time comes, you'll know."
-- Rosemary Sutcliff, The Witch's Brat
The best of several profound and very beautiful quotes from this book. I aspire to be "one of the menders," both physically and spiritually, as the main character is.qq
-- Rosemary Sutcliff, The Witch's Brat
The best of several profound and very beautiful quotes from this book. I aspire to be "one of the menders," both physically and spiritually, as the main character is.qq
March 11, 2020
A very brief, competent Rosemary Sutcliff. It was not quite as mournful as some of her work, but still had a faintly downbeat affect -- not necessarily a bad thing. It is essentially a vignette of monastic life during the reign of Henry I of England.
The characters were wholesome rather than loveable or interesting. But it was definitely worth a rapid read and the prose was mostly pleasing although simple.
The characters were wholesome rather than loveable or interesting. But it was definitely worth a rapid read and the prose was mostly pleasing although simple.
November 17, 2018
I loved this book as in it a disabled person gets to make something of his life although he is persecuted for being malformed and because of his misshapen body he is presumed to be in league with dark forces. Since he has gained a rudimentary knowledge of healing herbs and potions from his grandmother he uses this to begin a career helping out at the newly constructed St. Bartholemew’s Hospital under the King’s jester Rahere. It is an uplifting tale of triumph over adversity and a great read.
April 6, 2021
Short and very sweet. Rosemary Sutcliffe has a beautiful way with words and tells a good story.
May 23, 2022
Beautifully written and vivid - unfortunately no narrative drive. And the "attraction" of Lovel to Rahere is left oddly dangling, in my opinion.
December 29, 2023
Vividly detailed and beautifully written. A great story for young and old to share and enjoy.
July 23, 2016
The story of Lovel, who is brought up by his grandmother on the Sussex Downs, after his parents both die. She is the village wise woman and learned in cures and the use of plants, Lovel also inherits this gift from her. Despised in the vicinity for his differences (he has a hunched back and twisted leg) he is attacked for being the 'witch's brat' and stoned - luckily escaping and making his way through the woods, eventually finding sanctuary in a monastery where he puts his healing skills to good use.
This is the second children's story I have read by Sutcliff and she has a wonderful talent for creating settings and atmospheres. The story is only a hundred pages or so and yet it has a rich and powerful feel to it due to her evocative writing. I really enjoyed this and am definitely going to read more of her books. I wish I had read more of her when I was younger.
It's great to see a protagonist who is disabled, and particularly in an historical setting, I am certain that due to Sutcliff's own disability (she suffered from Stills disease and was wheelchair bound for most of her life) she was inspired to write about individuals or outsiders battling against the odds, and overcoming their disabilities to become successful and renowned in their own right - Sutcliff herself certainly achieved this. I found this quote on her website which summed up my feelings nicely...
"The sharing of storytelling that writers do with readers is the dialogue of imagination. Rosemary Sutcliff lives, grows and acts and suffers in her stories. The worlds created in her imagination have had to stand in for the world of much everyday actuality. From her therefore we can learn what the imagination does, and how it allows us all to explore what’s possible, the realm of virtual experience"
This is the second children's story I have read by Sutcliff and she has a wonderful talent for creating settings and atmospheres. The story is only a hundred pages or so and yet it has a rich and powerful feel to it due to her evocative writing. I really enjoyed this and am definitely going to read more of her books. I wish I had read more of her when I was younger.
It's great to see a protagonist who is disabled, and particularly in an historical setting, I am certain that due to Sutcliff's own disability (she suffered from Stills disease and was wheelchair bound for most of her life) she was inspired to write about individuals or outsiders battling against the odds, and overcoming their disabilities to become successful and renowned in their own right - Sutcliff herself certainly achieved this. I found this quote on her website which summed up my feelings nicely...
"The sharing of storytelling that writers do with readers is the dialogue of imagination. Rosemary Sutcliff lives, grows and acts and suffers in her stories. The worlds created in her imagination have had to stand in for the world of much everyday actuality. From her therefore we can learn what the imagination does, and how it allows us all to explore what’s possible, the realm of virtual experience"
May 6, 2016
Lovel was raised in a village where he could not so much as lay eyes on a cow before the owners threw stones at him and called him 'Witch's Brat'. Lovel was different. He had a hump in his back and lived with his old and wizened grandmother who was called Witch by the village people. She spent her time out in her garden growing herbs that classified as the Devil's herbs. So people took to calling her Witch and her grandson the Witch's Brat. Lovel's grandmother soon died, and he went to work in a monastery that never appreciated him for what he really was - a clever boy who could tell apart herbs by their smell and size, a boy who could cure people! Unfortunately, the monks did not see this and so Lovel did any dirty jobs no one else wanted to do.
One day, an interesting man claiming to be the King's jester passed by the monastery. Lovel and he soon made friends. Rahere the jester and Lovel both liked to help sick people. So with Lovel's help, Rahere set up a hospital in which Lovel owned a herb garden. Lovel helped care for the sick and elderly. He helped with people who couldn't be helped, who were going to die - simply by sitting with them speaking kind words until they did. One boy called Nick came to the hospital. He had a broken leg and wished to be a freemason. But while his leg was broken he couldn't achieve his dream. Lovel takes up the challenge and Nick is able to hold on because of Lovel's back, which makes him feel Lovel understands. But it's a nearly impossible task... Will Lovel suceed?
One day, an interesting man claiming to be the King's jester passed by the monastery. Lovel and he soon made friends. Rahere the jester and Lovel both liked to help sick people. So with Lovel's help, Rahere set up a hospital in which Lovel owned a herb garden. Lovel helped care for the sick and elderly. He helped with people who couldn't be helped, who were going to die - simply by sitting with them speaking kind words until they did. One boy called Nick came to the hospital. He had a broken leg and wished to be a freemason. But while his leg was broken he couldn't achieve his dream. Lovel takes up the challenge and Nick is able to hold on because of Lovel's back, which makes him feel Lovel understands. But it's a nearly impossible task... Will Lovel suceed?
June 18, 2014
What can I say about this book? I think it is one of the most charming and best written books I've ever read. Even as an adult, I go back and visit this book again and again, especially when I am depressed or troubled. Lovel's life, so hard yet so full and beautiful, always comforts me. I have always liked Rosemary Sutcliff's novels, and the simplicity of the writing, the way the characters are developed, and Ms. Sutcliff's ability to evoke a time and place so fully, make the book a constant delight to me.
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September 27, 2012this is about a young man who has a deformity of his back and it is set during the reign of henry 1
lovel helps is grandmother to heal people with herbs and when she dies he runs away from the place where he lives. he arrives at a monastery where he meets rahere the kings jester. whist at the monastery lovel helps with the physic garden and in the infirmary. rahere comes back to the monastery and asks him if he will join him in london with a new hospital and church. he does not go straight away. as he is looking after one of the monks who is dying. the hospital is bartholomew's.
lovel helps is grandmother to heal people with herbs and when she dies he runs away from the place where he lives. he arrives at a monastery where he meets rahere the kings jester. whist at the monastery lovel helps with the physic garden and in the infirmary. rahere comes back to the monastery and asks him if he will join him in london with a new hospital and church. he does not go straight away. as he is looking after one of the monks who is dying. the hospital is bartholomew's.
March 23, 2018
Nice written, but a bit too pat and tidy, this isn't Rosemary Sutcliff's best work. Poor Lovel is crippled from birth and, therefore, suspected of being an agent of the Devil since this is the 1100s. After being driven out of his village upon the death of his grandmother who was his protector and only living relative, Lovel finds place for himself as a healer in a monastery.
I was little sad that Lovel entered a religious order, but really to be even somewhat historically accurate, he wasn't going to find love and make a home and family for himself in the world given his disability.
I was little sad that Lovel entered a religious order, but really to be even somewhat historically accurate, he wasn't going to find love and make a home and family for himself in the world given his disability.
July 4, 2016
Rosemary Sutcliff is one of my favorite writers. This book describes the founding of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. By the end of chapter one we know the hunchbacked boy has a gift of healing. The author falls into some telling rather than showing to carry you through the years and how the boy feels about them. Surprisingly there are no female characters except the dead grandmother.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews