The Mercy Seller: A Novel

Front Cover
Macmillan, 2008 - Fiction - 448 pages

In the fifteenth century, with religious intolerance spreading like wildfire across Europe, Englishwoman Anna Bookman and her grandfather, Finn, earn a living in Prague by illuminating precious books---including forbidden translations of the Bible. As their secret trade grows ever more hazardous, Finn urges Anna to seek sanctuary in England. Her passage abroad, however, will be anything but easy.

Meanwhile, a priest in London, Brother Gabriel, dutifully obeys church doctrine by granting pardons . . . for a small fee. But when he is sent to France in disguise to find the source of the banned manuscripts finding their way to England, he meets Anna, who has set up a temporary stall as a bookseller. She has no way of knowing that the rich merchant frequenting her stall is actually a priest---just as he does not know that he has met the woman for whom he will renounce his church.
It is only in England, which is far from the safe harbor once imagined, that their dangerous secrets will be revealed.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
1
Section 2
5
Section 3
21
Section 4
30
Section 5
79
Section 6
126
Section 7
133
Section 8
143
Section 18
272
Section 19
284
Section 20
294
Section 21
304
Section 22
313
Section 23
328
Section 24
339
Section 25
345

Section 9
148
Section 10
161
Section 11
174
Section 12
185
Section 13
219
Section 14
227
Section 15
238
Section 16
245
Section 17
255
Section 26
357
Section 27
368
Section 28
378
Section 29
385
Section 30
398
Section 31
407
Section 32
418
Section 33
Copyright

Other editions - View all

The Mercy Seller: A Novel
Brenda Rickman Vantrease
Limited preview - 2007
The Mercy Seller: A Novel
Brenda Rickman Vantrease
Limited preview - 2007

Common terms and phrases

abbess abbey Anna thought Anna's archbishop Archbishop Arundel arms Arundel asked bells beneath Bera Bible Bohemia breath Brother Francis Brother Gabriel burn called chapel chest child Church Cooling Castle copy cross Dědeček door English eyes face father felt fingers Finn Flemmynge friar gaze girl gone grandfather hair hand head heard heart heresy heretical Holy horse husband Jan Hus Jetta John Wycliffe Kathryn king knew Lady Cobham Lady Joan laughed leave Lela light Little Bek Lollard looked Lord Cobham Martin Mistress Clare mother mouth never night parchment pilgrims Prague priest Prince Harry pulled remembered Rheims river Saint scriptorium Sir John Oldcastle Sister Agatha Sister Matilde skin sleep smell smile soul sound sure tell Thomas Arundel told took turned Tưn Church VanCleve VanCleve's voice wagon watched wife window woman wondered words Wycliffe

About the author (2008)

BRENDA RICKMAN VANTREASE is a former English teacher and librarian who has traveled extensively in the British Isles. She is the author of the novels The Illuminator, The Mercy Seller, and The Heretic's Wife. She holds a Ph.D. in English and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Mercy Seller: A Novel
AuthorBrenda Rickman Vantrease
PublisherMacmillan, 2008
ISBN0312377851, 9780312377854
Length448 pages
Subjects ›  ›  › 

Fiction / Historical / General
Fiction / Historical / Renaissance
Fiction / Places / Europe
Fiction / Romance / Historical / General
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan