Morality Play
The national bestseller: A medieval murder mystery full of the wonders of the time—and lessons for our own time—by a master storyteller.The time is the fourteenth century. The place is a small town in rural England, and the setting a snow-laden winter. A small troupe of actors accompanied by...
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The national bestseller: A medieval murder mystery full of the wonders of the time—and lessons for our own time—by a master storyteller.The time is the fourteenth century. The place is a small town in rural England, and the setting a snow-laden winter. A small troupe of actors accompanied by Nicholas Barber, a young renegade priest, prepare to play the drama of their lives. Breaking the longstanding tradition of only performing religious plays, the groups leader, Martin, wants them to enact the murder that is foremost in the townspeoples minds. A young boy has been found dead, and a mute-and-deaf girl has been arrested and stands to be hanged for the murder. As members of the troupe delve deeper into the circumstances of the murder, they find themselves entering a political and class feud that may undo them. Intriguing and suspenseful, Morality Play is an exquisite work that captivates by its power, while opening up the distant past as new to the reader.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780393315608 (0393315606)
ASIN: 0393315606
Publish date: 1996-09-17
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Pages no: 206
Edition language: English
Category:
European Literature,
British Literature,
Book Club,
Historical Fiction,
Literary Fiction,
Medieval,
Mystery,
Thriller,
Mystery Thriller,
Crime,
Fiction,
Historical
bookshelves: autumn-2013, film-only, published-1992, medieval5c-16c, britain-england, play-dramatisation, mystery-thriller, lit-richer, historical-fiction, booker-longlist, bdsm Read on November 28, 2013 Film is called The Reckoning. Blurb from IMDB: A priest on the lam takes up with a traveling...
Well, well, well, Barry... Didn’t think we would meet again after that ghastly horror that ‘The Land of Marvels’ was. But this wasn’t half bad. The book takes place in late fourteenth century and tells the story of Nicholas, a fugitive monk ,who joins a travelling troupe. As the narrator says: ...
Honestly, it took about 40 pages for this book to really engage my attention. Once it did, though, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't wait to get back on the subway so I'd have time to sit and read, and never figured out "who done it" on my own. A very unique murder mystery. Thank you, Maur...
A fascinating 'who done it' set in medieval England. Set against an eerie backdrop of plague, feudalism and church rule, "Morality Play" is the story of a de-frocked priest who teams up with a troupe of actors who are defying the Pope's orders by performing plays that haven't been approved by the c...
this was my introduction to the historical novels of barry unsworth and i really appreciate his idea of telling a story set in the past. he doesn't overwhelm the reader with his precious research; rather he provides in morality tale a whodunnit set in the middle ages. his style of historical writing...