Brenda Rickman Vantrease's new historical novel, THE ILLUMINATOR,
is quite good, and there's really nothing wrong with it. But it's
one of those books that is pointed towards a specific audience, and
there's nothing anyone can do about it now. If you are in that
audience, you should enjoy it and recommend it to your
friends.

That specific audience, I must tell you, is women. I am not one. I
do read, and enjoy, historical novels, and THE ILLUMINATOR is
definitely one of those. It's set in fourteenth-century England,
the time of Chaucer, the period right before the Reformation. Its
first chapter features John Wycliffe, the "morning star of the
Reformation," who translated the Bible from Latin into Middle
English. Its title character illuminates, or illustrates, the pages
of the translation, as well as Latin bibles and other
projects.

But the title character isn't the main character; that's Lady
Kathryn, widow of a knight killed in a battle in France over who
the next pope would be (the "Avignon Schism," for those of you who
remember your medieval church history). Talking about knights in
armor would be a good foundation for a historical novel, you'd
think, but nearly all of the action in THE ILLUMINATOR ---
including a peasant's rebellion --- takes place well off-screen.
The only real battles that are fought are of home, hearth, and
love, and those can be as tragic and injurious as any other.

Lady Kathryn is the lady of the manor of Blackingham, the owner of
some good land for grazing sheep, and makes her money by selling
the wool. But to maintain her independence, she must rely on
keeping the men around her happy. That includes her two sons, one
of whom dreams of being a knight-at-arms while the other dreams of
romance and chivalry. To protect their birthright, she has to
balance the other forces --- her serfs, the local lords, and most
importantly, the Catholic Church, which demands its tithes and
peddles its indulgences. When the abbot of a nearby monastery asks
Lady Kathryn to house Finn, the illuminator, she agrees as a way to
keep the Church happy. But a powerful and militant bishop wants his
services as well and uses the pretext of a murdered priest to
imprison him unjustly.

This brief summary of the plot is more than a little unfair; it's
actually a bit more intricate than that --- as is the writing.
There are a number of points of view and subplots, including a
tragic romance involving Lady Kathryn's youngest son and the
illuminator's daughter. THE ILLUMINATOR is interesting enough to
keep the reader's attention and knowledgeable enough to impart
information about the manners and mores of the time. But the novel
is informed by a particular point of view --- two of them, to be
exact --- and if you can't wrap your mind around that, then THE
ILLUMINATOR may be a long, hard slog.

The first of these, as I said, has to do with the target audience.
THE ILLUMINATOR is informed by the medieval version of a feminist
sensibility; its focus is on the various tragic plights of Lady
Kathryn and other female characters. The ups and downs of those
characters are contrasted by Julian of Norwich --- an actual
historical character --- who was the anchoress of that church. (The
job description of "anchoress" reveals quite a bit about the
character of the age.) Julian --- the first woman author to write
in the English language --- is a steady, loving presence that
counterbalances much of the domestic turmoil in the book.

Julian the anchoress also contrasts with the other point of view of
the novel; she's the only ecclesiastical character represented
positively. THE ILLUMINATOR is determinedly anticlerical, pointing
out the worst abuses of both the established, patriarchal Catholic
Church and the fanatical preachers who stirred up the peasant
rebellion. The villain of the piece, the cruel bishop, is just at
the top of a pyramid of abuses of power.

THE ILLUMINATOR is a sad book, full of regrets, lost love and
cruelty. It is accurate to the extent that it is a mirror of a
cruel age, but it also shows some of the beauty and reflected love.
It is not for everyone, but who wants to read a book that's for
everyone?