Over the past few
books, Frazer has concentrated mainly on the corruption that surrounded Henry
VI. Her sleuth, Dame Frevisse, is cousin
to the duchess of Suffolk, Alice de la Pole.
Alice’s husband was the duke of Suffolk, who was murdered after years of
usurping the king’s power and treasuries for his own gain. Frazer’s novels have taken an interesting
turn from Frevisse solving murders in and around the quiet nunnery St.
Frideswide, which is a safe distance from the dangerous London, to her in the
midst of the court intrigue with its backstabbing and vices, usually
culminating in someone’s murder. A
series that started out as cozy mysteries is now historical fiction based on
the life of King Henry VI.
In "The Sempter’s
Tale" (‘sempster’ a medieval term meaning ‘seamster’), Frazer addresses the vile
hatred toward the Jewish in mid-fifteenth century England, where Jews had been
banned, but lived in utmost secrecy to save their skins. The sempter/widow Anne is hopelessly in love
with Daved, a secret Jew. She knows who
he is and knows the dangers to him will also be hers if they are found
out.
Against her will,
Frevisse is forced to become a pawn yet again, in another of her cousin’s
troubles. This time, Alice wants her
husband’s gold to be secretly brought back into England, without paying the
required taxes but also without attracting the attention of the late duke’s
enemies. Anne and Daved are part of this
plan to return Alice’s gold to her as well.
Then a boy, who is
part of Anne’s household disappears and is found later murdered, with wounds
that are similar to a crucifixion.
Immediately, suspicion falls on the Jews, although there aren’t supposed
to be any in London. Later, when Daved
is unsurprisingly discovered, a fanatical priest blames him for the
murder. Frevisse, again, must sort
through the convoluted clues and events to discover what happened to the young
man.
Frevisse has her
own doubts about Jewish people, but having known some in her youth, she isn’t
as prejudice as almost everyone around her.
I found it interesting some of the horrible arguments and feelings that
Londoners used to justify their oppression of the Jews. But as Daved points out in his ‘discussion’
with the fanatical priest, Christians don’t mind them when Jews are helping
them make money.
Frevisse does not
get into any arguments about faith, but has to withhold her own judgment when
she discovers the depth of Anne and Daved’s relationship.
Not much on mystery
in this one, but definitely another great insight into the environment of
fifteenth-century England, Henry VI included and not included.
