Rahere, a humble young boy in 12th century England; not a good time to be an orphan.
And yet he is in the right place at the right time. Raised and inspired by kindly monks, they arrange for him to be mentored musically by the countries’ finest. He learns well, playing at the court of King William Rufus.
Incurring the Kings wrath, Rahere disappears mysteriously one night. After years, he is found. Have the torture and beatings in Rochester Castle, reduced his resolve to create great things? Can he repay the monks for their unselfish support? Will a grand tour to Rome show him the way? How can his great dream be realised?
Rahere has better friends than he ever believed possible, but there is so much to overcome…
St Bartholomew's Man 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
LikeLike
[…] to her website blog which includes the first chapters: https://stbartholomewsman.wordpress.com/about/ Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7750711?shelf=read Mary, Keep Calm and […]
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m almost finished reading this novel – amazed at the authenticity and rich detail, and the beautiful story of Rahere and Puella, who should be canonized as saints, and I’m about to web-search more about these people. I’m in awe of your ability to bring them to life with the written word, Mary!
LikeLike
Hi Carol, Many many thanks for your kind words so far. (Mary’s son Jon here, doing everything internet wise for her!) She too appreciates it greatly. To answer your tweet, to my shame I still have not read the Kipling poem and mother didn’t know of it when she wrote the book. Particularly silly of me since we have had a few comparisons to Rosemary Sutcliff, mostly on Goodreads, and I think she was probably the first to mention Rahere at all.
Carol, I am having the most ghastly stressful period right now and frankly your timing could not have been better to give me some good news!
I noticed you saw the tweets of the latest release ‘Especial Amigo’. If you’d like a copy WITHOUT me lurking over you review wise! Just for your own enjoyment, just ask. It’s all I can think of to thank you.
I hope everything is OK with you, we’ll talk again soon hopefully. All the best, Jon.
LikeLike