A new book from Joy Margetts is always a treat and I have been looking forward to this latest one for some time. I loved her three previous books, The Healing, The Pilgrim and The Bride, but writing a series can be tough. You have to remember your characters’ quirks and foibles, what they did a couple of books ago, how they look, what their voices sound like and somehow weave all of this together with new scenarios to keep readers engaged. I was never in any doubt that Joy could accomplish this with ease, and as I read the first few pages of The Stranger, I relaxed into the familiar yet unknown world of the thirteenth century. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I tend not to go much further back than the eighteenth century with my book choices, but reading about Welsh monastic life seven centuries ago is strangely addictive.
I love a book which pulls me straight into the narrative and by the second paragraph, I was hooked. Our protagonist, Brother Silas, is traumatised and in retreat from Grace Dieu, the Cistercian monastery planted by him from the mother abbey at Dore and now burned to the ground. What has happened to give him such a sense of shame? As I would expect, there are far more questions than answers at the beginning of the book, and I read on avidly. Silas is carrying a heavy burden of guilt, and his anguished reaction to the destruction of everything he and his brothers have worked for affects his faith. This is something that I could really identify with. When life is difficult and challenging and there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel, faith can take a bit of a hammering.
Joy has such a gift for creating warm, authentic characters, and equally for writing about politics and the world which intrudes on the prayerful serenity of monastic life. Everything changes, and nothing changes. Silas finds the Abbott of his home abbey living in comfort and engaging in dangerous and possibly treasonous negotiations which go against the ethos of Abbey Dore. Just as we see every day in our society, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Abbot is clearly a Bad Person and I felt my hackles rise. It takes a really good writer to create a villain and this Joy has done very well. If she is planning to write any more books (and I sincerely hope she is), I would be very interested in finding out what’s occurring with the Abbott.
It's not long before Silas is out on his own, anguished, self-doubting and seemingly rootless, trekking across an inhospitable landscape and trying to find answers. Along the way, he meets strangers who offer him compassion and open-handed hospitality. A far-seeing widow and her disabled son, a solitary charcoal burner, the Goldsmiths (brother and sister) and the mysterious Cennad all play their part in his redemption and healing. I found many of these encounters extremely moving. Joy is such an accomplished character creator and any one of the vignettes in the novel could star in their own book.
The quest motif in this novel, along with glimpses of characters we know from previous books lends the narrative a pace and drive which kept me gripped from the first paragraph. Touching, inspiring, gentle and extremely satisfying, this lovely novel is a wonderful companion to Joy’s earlier books. Highly recommended!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.
You can read my previous reviews here:
A Chat With Joy Margetts (March 2021)
The Stranger is available from Joy’s website, from the publisher Broad Place Publishing, on Amazon, and through all good bookshops.