Order of Darkness

All I ever learned about the kings of England, I learned from Philippa Gregory novels. Oh, and The Tudors. Oh, and Henry the 8th was not as hot as Jonathan Rhys Meyers. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw she had written some YA historical fiction. This is the story of Luca, Isolde, Ishraq and Freize, who meet up under difficult circumstances and wind up as uneasy friends. Isolde is sent to a nunnery after the death of her father. (her brother has nefarious reasons for this) Luca is an Inquirer for the church and is sent to the nunnery to investigate the nuns who seemed to be going mad. Freize is Luca's servant, and may not be as 'dumb' as he appears. Ishraq is Isolde's companion of Moorish descent. She has skills no girl of her time ought to have. When Isolde and Ishraq are accused of being witches and about to be burned, Luca and Freize help them get away. Luca doesn't know what to make of these girls, he is sworn to the church but finds himself drawn to Isolde. On their journey, they come across a village that thinks it has captured a werewolf. Luca is asked to investigate and determine the fate of the wolf. Freize and Ishraq figure out what is going on and attempt to save the poor animal. This is a book filled with the superstitions of the medieval world, where women cannot speak their mind and people believe evil is behind every unnatural occurence. The four characters each must figure out their place in this world and have to decide if they want to stick together. I love historical fiction and Gregory is a master of her craft. I look forward to continuing on this journey with them. So it is with reluctance I leave the world of 1453 and their werewolves  return to 2013 with mine. lol. My book pile doesn't seem to be shrinking and spring break is 3 weeks away but I'll try and survive. Happy reading my friends!