This is a fascinating book. It is the first time I have ever read a story in which a brothel is depicted as a nice place to live and work and a whoremistress as a good person to work for. But that it seems is how it was in the Old Priory Guesthouse, and if I had to work in such a place I would certainly choose the beautiful but very human Magdalene la Bâtarde to be my abbess/protectress.
One of the girls, Sabina, who is blind, has recently formed a permanent and exclusive relationship with a wealthy saddler, Master Mainard, and moved out of the Guesthouse. Their love blossomed from a strange and touching start when the hideously birthmarked Mainard found at last someone who was not repelled by his appearance, and the blind Sabina found someone for whom her handicap was something to be treasured rather than tolerated. But when Mainard's wife is brutally murdered, Magdalene finds herself defending Mainard, whom she likes and trusts, and taking part in the ensuing investigation. Being a whore and therefore persona non grata in polite society, she is obliged to call on one of her circle of admirers, Sir Bellamy of Itchen ("Bell") for assistance. Bell talks to Sabina:
'You know, Sabina, it is Mainard who had the best reasons to want her dead.'
'And I,' Sabina said stoutly. 'I told you I wanted to kill her.'
'Because you expected Master Mainard to marry you?'
'Marry me?' She turned her face toward him, astonishment showing in her voice and every line of her body, even though her eyes could not open in amazement. 'Why would Mainard want to marry me? I was a whore.'
The mystery is standard - the victim a vicious woman, a devil, whom everyone is more than happy to see dead - but it is well-narrated and it is firmly set in its time, depending as it does on both Stephen and Matilda demanding people's allegiance and accusing them of treason if they fail to give it.
The wonderful thng about this book, though, is the description of life in the whorehouses of medieval Southwark, both the good ones and the appalling ones. Some passages are decidedly erotic - be warned - but I loved it, and am now looking forward to reading the others in the series.
KB
