The Illuminator Series - Book 1
The Illuminator
“Lush in its accounts of the 14th century, an era when politics, plagues, and the beginnings of the Reformation wrought great changes, The Illuminator brings light to a dark time in history. Vantrease offers readers a remarkable glimpse into the minds of the great and the ordinary who shaped the era. Definitely a must-read for medieval aficionados.”
RT Book Reviews (4 stars)
A glowing first novel that brings us "historical fiction in the grand epic manner, beautifully felt and written"*
It is England, in the fourteenth century—a time of plague, political unrest and the earliest stirrings of the Reformation. The printing press had yet to be invented, and books were rare and costly, painstakingly lettered by hand and illuminated with exquisite paintings. Finn is a master illuminator who works not only for the Church but also, in secret, for John Wycliffe of Oxford, who professes the radical idea that the Bible should be translated into English for everyone to read. Finn has another secret as well, one that leads him into danger when he meets Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow struggling to protect her inheritance from the depredations of Church and Crown alike. Finn's alliance with Lady Kathryn will take us to the heart of what
Barbara Tuchman once called "the calamitous fourteenth century." Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, The Illuminator is a glorious story of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history.
Praise