Sharan Newman – författare

Catherine LeVendeur, a young scholar in 12th-century France, has come to conquer her sins at the Convent of the Paraclete: famous for learning, prayer and its abbess, the fabled Heloise.When a manuscript the convent produced for the great Abbe Suger disappears, rumours surface that the book contains sacrilegious passages and will be used to condemn Heloise''s famous lover, Peter Abelard.To save the convent and protect all she holds dear, Catherine must find the manuscript and discover who altered the text. Risking her life, and the wrath of Church and family, she confronts an evil older than Time itself . . .

When Catherine LeVendeur''s grandfather sends for his family to tell them their well is going dry, Catherine is alarmed. The family''s wealth depends on its status, and if the well goes dry, their castle will fall. Her grandfather seems wracked with a fear deeper than that, though - something connected to the mysterious woman who appears at odd moments, who may or may not be the family''s ancestral ghost.Catherine doesn''t believe in the magical legends her family has handed down over the years: that they are the descendants of a Charlemagne knight and a faerie. She puts her faith and distrust in the human condition. And when bodies begin appearing - not ghostly spectres, but the freshly dead kind - Catherine knows she is right. She must uncover the secrets of the witch in the well . . .

Young Catherine LeVendeur and her nobleman husband Edgar rely heavily on her dearest cousin, Solomon, for his help in their successful trading business. But their relationship must remain fiercely secret. While Catherine''s father was abducted as a child and raised a Catholic, the rest of his family are Jewish. The connection would spell ruin - and death - for Catherine''s family.When Solomon travels to Spain to make his fortune, he encounters his estranged father, a man who rejected his Jewish faith to become Brother James. When a fellow monk is murdered, James is convinced a conspiracy is at work, and turns to the son he abandoned for help. Solomon wants nothing to do with his father. But faced with his ancestry and the ties of blood, Solomon knows he must come to a decision about who he is - and where he really belongs.

Catherine LeVendeur carefully constructed life of faith and family rests on the constant fear of a dreaded secret. Raised a devout Catholic, if her family''s Jewish roots are exposed, everything she loves will be destroyed.But how far will she go to protect that secret? When her dearest friend, Astrolabe, son of the fabled theologian Peter Abelard, flees wrongful prosecution for the vicious murder of a young woman, Catherine''s family offers him a hiding place. But there are darker forces at work. Someone is using Astrolabe to destroy his father''s fame and reputation - someone who would relish in the destruction of the very order of Christian life.With her family caught in the middle of such a dangerous conflict, the young Catherine must call on all her wits and courage to ensure the future of everyone she cares for.

Young ex-novice Catherine LeVendeur is an independent spirit, fiercely loyal to both her faith and her family. Though the two sometimes conflict, with terrible consequences, her life remains committed to preserving what - and who - she loves.But Catherine''s loyalty is sorely tested when she and her family return to their French home to discover a Knight Templar has been brutally murdered inside: someone is threatening to reveal her closely held secret about her family''s Jewish roots. But Catherine never wavers in her convictions, as she knows it falls to her to discover who would kill a soldier of God and why her family would be targeted in such a horrendous fashion.

The young French scholar, Catherine LeVendeur, is rather pleased to see off her estranged younger sister, Agnes, through marriage to a German lord. Bitter about their religious differences, Agnes wants nothing to do with Catherine and happily sets off with her sizeable dowry and two knights in escort.But soon one of the escorts returns with terrible news: Agnes'' new husband appears to have been murdered, and Agnes is the prime suspect - accused of murder by poisoning, or worse, witchcraft.In spite of their differences, Catherine believes in Agnes'' innocence, and pledges to do everything she can to save her sister. But when Catherine and her family travel to Germany to begin investigating, amongst a dangerously volatile religious climate, it becomes clear that their long-dreamt-of peaceful life remains in the distant future - if they live to see it.

Adjusting to her role as a new mother, the young Catherine LeVendeur is looking forward to life at home in Paris. But when her nobleman husband, Edgar, learns that two of his brothers have been murdered, her peace is shattered. Honour dictates that he must return to Scotland to avenge their deaths and, despite what awaits them in his war-torn homeland, Catherine and the baby accompany him.Reaching Scotland, Catherine is shocked by Edgar''s tyrannical father, and the cold secrecy of the rest of his family. As soon as Edgar is away from home, the family expel Catherine from their care, leaving her seeking refuge in a strange country ravaged by civil war. Searching desperately for her husband, she knows it is far more important to discover who despises Edgar''s family so much that they would try to destroy its whole lineage - including her infant son.

As a former novice of the Convent of the Paraclete, the young Catherine LeVendeur''s life has been filled with adventure and intrigue. When she fell in love with her Saxon nobleman, Edgar, it was hoped that married life would settle this headstrong woman. But fate will have its way and, after suffering several miscarriages, Catherine is inspired by a prophetic dream that she and Edgar must embark on a pilgrimage to the fabled monastery of Compostela, to petition for a child.During their journey Catherine and Edgar encounter mad monks, bawdy crusaders, and a motley collection of pilgrims whose past deeds bind them all in a bizarre game of chance. When several pilgrims are gruesomely murdered, the trail of evidence points to an old and blackening sin, and a hidden villain whose quest for revenge may lead to Catherine''s untimely death . . .

In 12th-century France, the power of the religious relic is unsurpassed. Suffused with enormous power, a dangerous and violent trade has grown up around them. Despite mourning for their first child, the young ex-novice Catherine LeVendeur and her English husband Edgar are drawn into this perilous world when Edgar agrees to pose as a craftsman in order to infiltrate one if the rings.The future of Catherine''s relatives is also at stake: Jews surviving on the tolerance of King Louis VII. Their fragile existence is shattered when a man is murdered, and a deeply important relic - the arm of Saint Aldhelm of England - is stolen.

A wealthy countess lies dying at the Convent of the Paraclete, brutally beaten by an unknown assailant. Despite entreaties, she is unwilling to name her killer. So the beautiful Catherine LeVendeur, the Paraclete''s most learned young novice-scholar, vows to find out the identity of the woman''s attacker.When her beloved Edgar comes to lead her away from the convent to a life outside, Catherine is torn between her quest for justice and the pledge she has made him. Refusing to break any of her promises, Catherine knows that if she abandons her crusade for the truth, the killing will continue, and the convent she loves may be destroyed . . .

In The Difficult Saint, Sharan Newman returns to medieval France and the murder-haunted Catherine LeVendeur, heroine of this acclaimed series. After a harrowing stay with Catherine''s in-laws in Scotland, Catherine and her husband, Edgar, have returned home with their two small children to live a life of peace at last--or so they hope. But soon the safety of those they love is questioned as anti-Jewish sentiment begins to grow in Paris. Raised Catholic by her father, Hubert, who poses as a Christian while practicing Judaism in secret, Catherine fears that the violence of the most recent crusade will repeat itself, victimizing members of her family. But before she can put too much thought into that, fate interrupts.Catherine''s estranged younger sister, Agnes, has returned to Paris with the news that she has been promised in marriage to a German lord. Bitter about their religious differences Agnes wants no part of Catherine or Hubert--except for the sizable dowry that Hubert can provide. When Catherine and Hubert arrange for Agnes to be escorted to Germany with her dowry, they assume that they have seen the last of her.But then one of Agnes''s escorts returns to Paris with terrible news: Agnes''s new husband appears to have been murdered by poisoning, and Agnes is the prime suspect. In spite of their differences, Catherine believes in her innocence, and knows that she must do everything she can to save her sister''s life. And when Catherine and her brood travel to Germany to begin sleuthing in a dangerously anti-Semetic climate, it becomes clear that Catherine and Edgar''s long-dreamt of life of peace remains in the distant future--if they live to see it at all.At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The seventh installment of Sharan Newman''s critically acclaimed Catherine LeVendeur medieval mystery series, To Wear the White Cloak continues the story of this most remarkable woman and her unique family. Set against the backdrop of twelfth century France, Catherine''s life is both a reflection of the bonds placed upon a woman in her society and the ways in which a strong personality could triumph and succeed in spite of those strictures. Catherine is an independent spirit, fiercely loyal to both her faith and her family, and that loyalty will be sorely tested when a Knight Templar is discovered brutally murdered after Catherine and her family return to France after a long absence. Catherine''s closely held secret about her family''s Jewish roots are threatened to be revealed and ultimately it falls upon Catherine to discover the person who would kill a soldier of God and why Catherine''s family would be targeted in such a horrendous fashion.Filled with fascinating details of medieval life and the intricate interplay between the Christian and Jewish cultures of the time, To Wear the White Cloak is a compelling mystery and a riveting historical rolled into one.At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

With Death Comes As Epiphany, the first in the Catherine LeVendeur mystery series, medievalist Sharan Newman has woven dark mystery and sparkling romance into a fascinating and richly detailed tapestry of everyday life in twelfth-century France, and one of the most moving love stories of all time: Abelard and Heloise.Catherine LeVendeur is a young scholar come to conquer her sin of pride at the Convent of the Paraclete, famous for learning, prayer, and its abbess, the fabled Heloise. When a manuscript the convent produced for the great Abbe Suger disappears, rumors surface saying the book contains sacrilegious passages and will be used to condemn Heloise''s famous lover, Peter Abelard.To save her Order, and protect all she holds dear, Catherine must find the manuscript and discover who altered the text. She will risk disgrace, the wrath of her family and the Church, and confront an evil older than Time itself--and, if she isn''t careful, lose her immortal soul.Winner of the Macavity Award for Best First MysteryAt the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This novel in Newman''s series of medieval mysteries featuring Catherine LeVendeur takes place in the twelfth century amidst Europe''s religious and political turbulence and intolerance. Catherine, wife of one-handed Edgar, daughter of a Jewish merchant, and mother of two small children, is a Christian convert. Agnes, her estranged sister, has returned to Paris with the news that she is to marry a German lord. She wants no part of her Jewish family, except the sizable dowry her father can provide.

After Agnes departs for Germany, her family receives terrible news: Agnes'' husband has been murdered by poison and Agnes herself is the prime suspect. Catherine, putting their differences aside, goes undercover in the dangerous anti-Semitic climate of Germany to save her sister''s life and possibly lose her own in the effort.

After an absence of a year, Catherine LeVendeur and her husband Edgar are glad to return to Paris. When they enter the house, however, they are shocked by the discovery of the dead body of a Knight Templar. Although innocent, Catherine fears that she or her family will be incriminated. Her father Hubert has recently announced his Jewish roots and twelfth-century Europe is not a safe place for Jews. She particularly fears the powerful knight, Jehan of Blois. Catherine must penetrate the secrets of the Knights Templar in order to vindicate her family.

Catherine and Edgar’s loving relationship is warmly described against the mesmerizing sights and sounds of medieval Paris in this engrossing tale of mystery.