Must Read for Medievalists, etc. | The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume One

A nineteenth century novelist who wrote about the 15 century | The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume One | Charles Reade

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	• The Cloister and the Hearth, Volume One Charles Reade Borgo Press, 2002 - 292 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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A must-read

A neglected masterpiece of English literature. I urge you to read this book if you have not yet done so. It succeeds on many levels: It's an exciting adventure yarn, with escapes, chases, intrigues and treachery; a philosophical novel, questioning the value of priestly celibacy; a war story, presenting a convincing portrayal of men in combat; a psychological novel, probing the nature of male companionship; a medieval romance. Well written, absorbing and satisfying, this is one novel you must read.

Must Read for Medievalists, etc.

Charles Reade was a 19th century author who wrote this historical romance about the 15th century. He was very interested in Medieval times and used the best resources available to him to tell this story of the parents of Desiderius Erasmus, the famous 16th century clerical sceptic and forerunner of the Reformation. It tells of the struggle between man and Church and of both with God without being "preachy." It is a long tale of the romance between a woman and a religious man that is subject to many trials and tribulations - a times the trials become almost comic as one succeeds the other in rapid succession. The author's world is filled with duplicity, false religion, true love and friendship, the essence and the terrible edifice of medieval Christianity, etc.

Along the way you can learn a lot about how the people of the 15th century expressed themselves and how they lived as the author attempted to be true to the times. There are both preachy and inspirational religious passages based, probably, on the common teachings of the church and on the teachings of Erasmus and other sceptics. Within and without the church are the divine, the indifferent and the venal as Reade tells of them.

Reade shows a remarkable capacity to realistically represent men AND women at both their worst and best. He is clearly fond of women and they often put the men to shame in this story. The maid (Margaret Brandt) saves the cleric (Gerard Eliasoen) from his melodramatic self and helps him be of actual service to a congregation that needs him rather than wallow in false religiousity. Together they bring Erasmus into this world and then are parted in a "nail-biter" of a romace-action drama with a lot of religious commentary thrown in. For its time it must have been very daring.

Although this long book is at times wearying, it is also hard to put down as we keep wanting to know about the ultimate resolution of the romance between the cleric (the Cloister) and the maid (the Hearth). I recommend it to anyone wanting a good action-romance as well as one interested in the information on the times and on the interplay of religion with society of the times.

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A nineteenth century novelist who wrote about the 15 century

Charles Reade really knew how to tell a story! This is a wonderfully long historical book, that keeps your interest right through. Mr. Reade's descriptions of the English countryside rank right up there with the best, and his characters are great too. We don't only read about his characters, but we actually become friends with them as we read. Reade pictures his hero Tito's spiritual decay as one long undulating spiral. In fact it is that that keeps this long book so wonderfully held together. We see a wealth of human emotions and duplicity in this book. Reade combines this with superb historical research to make an awesome novel. The book is lifelike, interesting and compelling reading. He's probably one of the best historical writers out there from any time.

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"The Cloister and the Hearth" is Charles Reade's greatest work--and, I believe, the greatest historical novel in the language. . . . "One can only say that this great writer--there is no greater praise--paints women as they are, men as they are, things as they are. What we call genius is first the power of seeing men, women, and things as they are--most of us, being without genius, are purblind--and then the power of showing them by means of "invention"--by the grafting of "invention" upon fact. No man has shown greater power of grasping fact and of weaving invention upon it than Charles Reade." -- from Walter Besant's introduction (Jacketless library hardcover.)

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