Johanna Ward
Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. Yet as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride, looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians, and the bridegroom, an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. And he
...St. Peter's Fair was a grand event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. With the pause in the Civil War during the summer of 1139, the fair would bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury.
But a wealthy merchant is found murdered in the river Severn. Brother Cadfael offers to help the merchant's niece, Emma; but while he searches for the killer, two more men are murdered—like her uncle, apparently for the valuables
...Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on the Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her willful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night. With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret
...Shy people and introverts generally avoid actively propelling themselves into the public eye. They would much rather work quietly behind the scenes. But is that enough? In our age of increasing workplace competition and relentless self-promotion, some experts assert that it will be the more extroverted personality types, those who speak out at meetings and give charismatic presentations, who will succeed in the business world. But why should extroverts
...