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    A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael
    A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael
    A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael
    Ebook178 pages3 hours

    A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael

    By Ellis Peters

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “Three classic stories featuring Brother Cadfael . . . whose powers of deduction are practically miraculous” in the Silver Dagger–winning medieval mystery series (Booklist).

    “Brother Cadfael sprang to life suddenly and unexpectedly when he was already approaching sixty, mature, experienced, fully armed and seventeen years tonsured.” So writes Ellis Peters in her introduction to A Rare Benedictine—three vintage tales of intrigue and treachery featuring the monastic sleuth who has become the best-loved ecclesiastical detective since Father Brown.
     
    Although Cadfael has appeared in twenty novel-length chronicles, the story of his entry into the monastery at Shrewsbury has been known hitherto only to a few readers. Now his myriad fans can discover the chain of events that led him into the Benedictine Order.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMysteriousPress.com Open Road
    Release dateAug 5, 2014
    ISBN9781497671652
    A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael
    Author

    Ellis Peters

    Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, 1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television, including her Brother Cadfael crime novels, which were made into a series starring Derek Jacobi. She has been the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger, Edgar Award for Best Novel, Agatha Award for Best Novel, and was awarded an OBE for her services to literature in 1994.

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    Reviews for A Rare Benedictine

    4/5

    295 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Ellis Peters has written ywenty novels about Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk serving in Shrewsbury in the 12th century. But how did he get there after a life as Crusader in the Holy Lands? A rare Benedictine gives us the answer to our questions in the first short story. Here he meets and helps Father (then Prior) Heribert and, at the same time, finds his life's work in middle age.There are two other stories: a story of missing candlesticks and a robbery of Abbey funds. And only one almost dead body. Brother Cadfael solves each mystery by his knowledge of human nature. This is a welcome addition to the Cadfael Chronicles.
    • 4/5
      Three stories of Brother Cadfael, before he was a brother. Very enjoyable!
    • 4/5
      Three stories of Brother Cadfael, before he was a brother. Very enjoyable!
    • 5/5
      Ellis Peters had written several of the Cadfael series, and he was well established in his habits and ways when she decided to write this prelude short story. It tells of the journey of his soul from Crusader to Benedictine monk. The other two short stories are more of the Cadfael we know and love, in shorter form.I love the way Peters allows us to read people through Cadfael's eyes and thoughts. Even in that, we are shown their motivations, not told. There is much introspection, yet it isn't heavy or dreary.
    • 4/5
      In this volume we are treated to three short stories of Brother Cadfael, including one which explains how he came to leave his military service, and join the Benedictines. Nice collection, entertaining.
    • 4/5
      This collection of 3 short stories in the Brother Cadfael series is wonderful. Peters shows her skill at bringing out the depth of Cadfael's understanding of human nature and compassion for human foibles. I especially liked the first story, "A Light on the Road to Woodstock" which shows a little of the background of Brother Cadfael & why he decided to join the monastery.
    • 4/5
      Brother Cadfael was my introduction to historical mysteries. This collection of three short stories is noted most for an introductory tale that explains how Cadfael became a monk at the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul just outside Shrewsbury. The short stories display the same Cadfael as we find in the later tales, and not only the first, but the second as well, are set before the first story in the series and offer glimpses into the earlier days before the stories.Cadfael is an excellent introduction to the genre.
    • 3/5
      Liked the first story best. Oh, and the cover.
    • 4/5
      Six-word review: Cadfael's backstory, meant for series fans.Extended review:I sought out and read this small volume when I'd completed fourteen of the twenty novels in the Brother Cadfael series. Having come to know the crime-solving medieval monk fairly well by this time, I was interested in the story that explains how and why he made his unexpected transition in middle age from the life of a fighting man to a pledge of poverty, chastity, and obedience behind monastery walls.Any time after the second or third chronicle, when I was already well entrenched as a series reader, I'd have welcomed this amplification of Cadfael's personal history.However, I think the three short stories under this cover would have made for a poor introduction to the series; they were meant primarily to fill in background rather than to attract new readers. As such, they perform their function well. I don't think it's altogether fair to rate them independently. Rather, a newcomer to the series and the character would do best to start with the first or second of the novels, and come looking for Cadfael in his pre-Shrewsbury days only when moved by curiosity.
    • 4/5
      I like this collection of three short stories chiefly for the first story, which tells how Cadfael became a monk. The illustrations are so-so, not as successfully medieval as say Pauline Baynes.
    • 4/5
      Three medium-length stories featuring Brother Cadfael, including one about his initial call to monastic life, returning to England after the Crusades.

      Well written and interesting with clever plots.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful! Ellis Peters gives us a wonderful bruef background sketch of Cadfael's life and how he came to become a Benedictine munk.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable short stories...nothing too challenging but enjoyable and does feel as if there.
    • 5/5
      I was glad to read this backstory of Brother Cadfael's beginnings as a monk of Shrewsbury. Having read all the other Cadfael mysteries, this provided background that I wondered about. I also enjoyed the format of three novellas, and my illustrated edition with medieval woodcut appearance.
    • 5/5
      One last visit to Brother Cadfael. A slim book containing 3 short stories written by Ellis Peters about Brother Cadfael's origins. I truly miss this author's works.
    • 3/5
      A pre-brother Cadfael story and two tails of misdeeds at and about the Abbey that could have happened any when, but are set before A Morbid Taste for Bones.
    • 4/5
      Three nic short stories about Cadfael's early days
    • 3/5
      The book is the final installment of the Brother Cadfael mysteries & least successful. The author was apparently at this point was no longer interested in the stories so it seems there was little attempt to match the turns & twists of her previous stories. Overall, the Brother Cadfael, with a mix of historical fiction & mystery set around the early 1100s, was well written. With the exception of this book, the series was well done.
    • 4/5
      Angela on LT told me about this book and it intrigued me because I’ve been considering starting the Cadfael series. It contains three short stories that Peters wrote in 1988 to fill in some background on Cadfael before he became famous for solving crimes. The first story, “A Light on the Road to Woodstock,” gives a bit of history of his pre-monastery life and tells how he became a Brother at Shrewsbury Abbey. The second story, “The Price of Light” was my favorite. It takes place after he joins the Abbey and tells us a little about how the society of that age worked. It was also the best mystery in this book, even though it was not hard to guess most of the answers. The third story, “Eye Witness” was easy to solve early on but had a surprise (at least for me) twist at the end. Recommended, especially for fans
    • 3/5
      For those of us who through reading many books about Brother Cadfael have wondered about his decision to enter the Benedictine Order as an adult, Ellis Peters has nicely given us background in this book. Following an active life as a soldier of the Crusades, Brother Cadfael, in a short story entitled, "On the Road to Woodstock," turns his back on a life of violence and adventure for the ordered, regulated life of a monk. Two other short stories grace this book all written with the wit and care for historical detail that we have come to expect in Ellis Peters.
    • 3/5
      A collection of three short stories, interspersed with drawings, as if they were wood cuts by Clifford Harper in my edition, the 150 pages shrinks to even less. Certainly the stories round Cadfael out as they are before Hugh Beringar, and the first even before he is a Benedictine Monk.But we have no murder amongst them, though the attempt in one. We have seen that Pargeter/Peters can excell at telling the story in the context of an Historical Novel and indeed, there is some Introduction where she dwells on the development of Cadfael. The three short stories though give little historically for us, the first giving us some events of importance to the times, but when the chance is there for us to see deeper on what those events will mean, and did mean as they happened, we are denied. (When Henry I lost his son, the ensuing Civil War between Stephen and Maud was set up which serves as the background throughout the entire series.)So no great historical depth, no murder, some crimes that Cadfael is on hand to solve. These stories might have served in a mystery magazine, and a couple more would have made a book. The use of the illustrations, and the writing itself, not as all encompassing as the novels gives a less than satisfying send off to our hero. Cadfael will be missed, but one has hopes that the genre has been greatly enriched by Peters/Pargeter and now there are many other mysteries set during this very period.But we have no murder amongst them, though the attempt in one. We have seen that Pargeter/Peters can excell at telling the story in the context of an Historical Novel and indeed, there is some Introduction where she dwells on the development of Cadfael. The three short stories though give little historically for us, the first giving us some events of importance to the times, but when the chance is there for us to see deeper on what those events will mean, and did mean as they happened, we are denied. (When Henry I lost his son, the ensuing Civil War between Stephen and Maud was set up which serves as the background throughout the entire series.)
    • 5/5
      This book contains three stories about Brother Cadfael, one that occurred before he took the cowl and two that were later.
    • 4/5
      Three stories of Brother Cadfael, before he was a brother. Very enjoyable!

    Book preview

    A Rare Benedictine - Ellis Peters

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