Lollard" is the name given to followers of John Wyclif, the English dissident theologian who was dismissed from Oxford University in 1381 for his arguments regarding the eucharist. A forceful and influential critic of the ecclesiastical status quo in the late fourteenth century, Wyclif's thought was condemned at the Council of Constance in 1415. While lollardy has attracted much attention in recent years, much of what we think we know about this English religious movement is based on records of heresy trials and anti-lollard chroniclers. In Feeling Like Saints, Fiona Somerset demonstrates that this approach has limitations. A better basis is the five hundred or so manuscript books from the period (1375–1530) containing materials translated, composed, or adapted by lollard writers themselves.These writings provide rich evidence for how lollard writers collaborated with one another and with their readers to produce a distinctive religious identity based around structures of feeling. Lollards wanted to feel like saints. From Wyclif they drew an extraordinarily rigorous ethic of mutual responsibility that disregarded both social status and personal risk. They recalled their commitment to this ethic by reading narratives of physical suffering and vindication, metaphorically martyring themselves by inviting scorn for their zeal, and enclosing themselves in the virtues rather than the religious cloister. Yet in many ways they were not that different from their contemporaries, especially those with similar impulses to exceptional holiness.
Despite her broken heart, when Dilly Gently joins Magnus Olensen's new band, the chemistry between them is explosive. Both impossibly romantic dizzy blondes with the souls of poets, they could be made for each other. But before they have chance to declare themselves, Dilly's friend Nell confides that she has a huge crush on Magnus, and Dilly nobly steps down in order to play reluctant matchmaker. Nell returns the favour by setting her friend up with her dashing twin brother Flipper. But Flipper the bounder is not a good rebound for a true romantic. He hides a secret that could break Dilly's heart all over again . . .
Beginning in 6000 BC, this comprehensive history of Ireland spans the ages and takes the reader up to the present day. It covers the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, the arrival of Christianity, the Viking period, the takeover of Ireland by Henry II in 1171 AD and the struggle for independence.
The translation of learned Latin materials into English between around 1370 and 1410 was a highly controversial activity. It was thought likely to make available to lay audiences the authoritative and intellectual information and methods of argument previously only accessible to an educated elite - and with that knowledge the power of information. Fiona Somerset's 1998 study examines what kinds of academic material were imported into English, what sorts of audience were projected for this kind of clerical discourse and how writers positioned themselves with respect to potential audience and opponents. The well-known concerns with clerical corruption and lay education of authors such as Langland, Trevisa, and Wyclif are linked to those of more obscure writers in both Latin and English, some only recently edited, or only extant in manuscript.
When Tash French's potty grandmother mistakes a Christmas cracker engagement ring for the genuine article, a wedding of astronomical proportions is planned. Swept away by everyone's enthusiasm, Tash and her partner Niall can do little but laugh and go along with it. After all, they had meant to marry all along, hadn't they? As the wedding plans escalate, however, Tash starts to have doubts. Niall, a rising acting star, is always working away from home, forgetting important dates and falling in love with his leading ladies, and her own eyes keep wandering to a roguish fellow event rider. Even if the best man wins, Tash looks likely to give away more than her hand in marriage - she may lose her head and her heart as well . . .
This is a publication of my doctoral thesis with the University of Exeter. My research aim has been to assess patterns of settlement continuity and discontinuity between the late Roman and early medieval periods over three regional case study areas: Norfolk, Kent and Somerset. Quantitative and spatial data has been collected and stored within a GIS database and queried to produce a series of spatial relationships. Using landscape archaeology principles the results have been systematically assessed across a range of distinctive character regions, or pays. The discussion of results uses distribution maps, tables and charts to help demonstrate the research outcomes and amplify regional trends in Roman and early medieval settlement relationships, relative to their physical landscape context.
A contemporary story of class, gender, and property ownership--told through the interconnected lives of the residents of one London building and the real estate heiress who wants to tear it down"--
From the very first day they move to homes in the Oddlode Valley, Mo, Diana and Anke find their lives entangled. As the long, hot summer burns its embers into winter, old flames are ignited and fanned - is this just a flash in the pan, or is somebody fuelling the fire? Originally published: London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005.
FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE The family thought the little house they had made themselves in Elmet, a corner of Yorkshire, was theirs, that their peaceful, self-sufficient life was safe. Cathy and Daniel roamed the woods freely, occasionally visiting a local woman for some schooling, living outside all conventions. Their father built things and hunted, working with his hands; sometimes he would disappear, forced to do secret, brutal work for money, but to them he was a gentle protector. Narrated by Daniel after a catastrophic event has occurred, Elmet mesmerizes even as it becomes clear the family’s solitary idyll will not last. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, their innocence lost. Daddy and Cathy, both of them fierce, strong, and unyielding, set out to protect themselves and their neighbors, putting into motion a chain of events that can only end in violence. As rich, wild, dark, and beautiful as its Yorkshire setting, Elmet is a gripping debut about life on the margins and the power—and limits—of family loyalty.
Every marriage has its seasons...It’s autumn when we meet Tess, but her relationship with Richard is in a deep, cold winter. A winter so harsh, their union may never see the bright light of spring. Tess is a Londoner whose relationship with Richard transports her from a Jamaican diaspora in the city to the English countryside, where predatory birds hover over fields, buses run twice a day, neighbors barter honey for cider, and no one looks like her. As Tess and Richard settle in, the dramatic arrival of their fraternal twins—one who presents as black and the other as white—recasts the family dynamic, stirring up complicated feelings and questions of belonging. Tess yearns for the comforting chaos of life as it once was, instead of Max and Sonny tracking dirt through the kitchen where cooking Caribbean food becomes her sole comfort. And Richard obsesses over getting his crops planted rather than deal with the conversation he cannot bear to have. In Fiona Williams' quartet of unforgettable, alternating perspectives, secrets and vines clamber over the house’s broken red bricks, and although its inhabitants seem to be withering, Sonny knows that something is stirring. . . . As the seasons change and the cracks let in more light, the family might just be able to start to heal.
Meet Lucy Gordon, the sweet, scatty, irresistible heroine of Fiona Walker's delicious new novel. Lucy lives in a Berkshire village with her two friends, Jane and Bella, and works in the marketing department of Widgetex Computers. Her boss - Slave Driver - is a constant bane; her family are lovable eccentrics; her boyfriend, the dishy but fickle Greg, takes shameless advantage of her (Lucy is too good hearted to notice). Throughout two action-packed, fun-filled, disaster-strewn years, Lucy charts an erratic course among this motley crew to her very own happy ending.
Fancy spending the summer in a fabulous Loire chateau? Broken-hearted and jobless, Tash does, even though it means close proximity to her large and unruly family and assorted hangers-on. Sun, Sancerre and sexual tension make for deliciously bad behaviour - even Rooter the dog has a permanent hangover. And with so much French kissing, it's not surprising that at least two people fall in love . . .
When Ellen Jamieson breaks up with her long-standing boyfriend, she plans to go traveling. But first she agrees to house-sit for her parents, who are trying to find a buyer for their idyllic cottage in the Cotswold village of Oddlode. The village is full of quaint and eccentric characters, both blue-blooded and below the salt, and Ellen is the subject of much speculation. Under the wing of Ophelia "Touchy Pheely" Gently, an impoverished local sculptor, Ellen goes to an Auction of Promises village fundraiser and wins a mysterious lot of three wishes. These have been donated by Jasper Belling, the incredibly gorgeous prodigal son of the local lord of the manor. Falling in love with a notorious hell-raiser is the last thing Ellen intended, and the convoluted scandals of the villagers put many obstacles in the way of the young lovers. Several ancient skeletons come rattling out of various cupboards before a no-holds-barred, loved-up finale.
______________________ She was the Princess Diana of her day. She loved clothes and jewels and parties. She had exquisite taste in interior design. She seemed destined to reign as one of England's most glamorous queens, famed for the beautiful palaces she designed and decorated. Instead, Princess Henrietta Maria of France became caught up in the Civil War, one of the greatest cataclysms in English history. Swept from her life of luxury into the squalid brutality of battle and the loneliness of exile, her heart was torn by the two men she loved - her husband, tragic Charles I and charismatic Harry Jermyn, who designed and built most of London's West End, including the street which bears his name. This is their story.
Born into a world seething with treachery and suspicion, Eleanor Goodricke grows up on the Somerset Levels just after the English Civil Wars, heiress to her late mother's estates and daughter of a Puritan soldier who fears for his brilliant daughter with her dangerous passion for natural history - and for butterflies in particular. Her reckless courage will take her to places where no woman of her day ever dared to go. Her fearless ambition will give her a place in history for all time. But it is her passionate heart which will lead her into a consuming love - and mortal peril.
A budding stand-up comic, Juno is voluptuous, hedonistic, funny and terminally untidy. On her thirtieth birthday she decides to have a wild one-night stand to mark the occasion. But seducing her new flatmate before he's had a chance to unpack his belongings is not a wise move. Just over from New York, Jay Mulligan is intense, mysterious, and as Juno joyously discovers, far better than breakfast in bed. It's only when they get out of that bed on the wrong side three days later that the problems start.
New legends for modern times; sprung from our ancient lands, stories and stones. 'Marvellous and menacing.' Daily Mail 'The shadow from which I thought I had unshackled myself has returned. Whether this Horror is real or merely the handiwork of my imagination I cannot say. Nor can I say which of these possibilities disturbs me more.' from 'The Dark Thread' by Graeme Macrae Burnet From the legends of King Arthur embedded in the rocky splendour of Tintagel to the folklore and mysticism of Stonehenge, English Heritage sites are often closely linked to native English myths. Following on from the bestselling ghost story anthology Eight Ghosts, this is a new collection of stories inspired by the legends and tales that swirl through the history of eight ancient historical sites. Including an essay by James Kidd on the importance of myth to our landscape and our fiction, and an English Heritage survey of sites and associated legends, These Our Monsters is an evocative collection that brings new voices and fresh creative alchemy to our story-telling heritage. 'Nobody believes you when you talk about the whispering. Oh, Monny, you are funny, they say, you've such an imagination. There's a lot they don't believe.' from 'The Hand Under the Stone' by Sarah Hall The atmospheric locations: Edward Carey - Bury St Edmunds Abbey Sarah Hall - Castlerigg and other stone circles Paul Kingsnorth - Stonehenge Alison MacLeod - Down House Graeme Macrae Burnet - Whitby Abbey Sarah Moss - Berwick Castle Fiona Mozley - Carlisle Castle Adam Thorpe - Tintagel Castle
At last - South African chick-lit with all the wit and charm to hold its own against international bestsellers. 'If I hear the word "Struggle" one more time, I swear I'm going to strangle someone.' Trinity Luhabe is so OVER the whole Robben Island thing. Sure, her dad was one of the last activists to be imprisoned there, but he's now a billionaire mining magnate. We all have to move on, right? And Trinity is moving on with a vengeance. She's just passed Matric at an exclusive private school, and is all set to take Rhodes University by storm. She's got the looks. She's got the brains (sort of). She's a girl with a plan. Okay, it's not a plan she's prepared to share with just anyone - especially not her feminist, do-gooder mother. Delightfully ditzy, but with an inner core of strength, Trinity parties her way through life. That is, until she discovers that life bites back. And then there's her arch-enemy - the deliciously wicked Sophie Agincourt, who definitely has something evil up her sleeve. Will Sandton's favourite daughter ever find true love, straighten out her priorities, and make it to lectures on time? Or will her career be over before it's begun? Find out as you follow her along the path of true love, self-discovery, and eBay handbags in the first book of the beguiling Trinity Luhabe series.
When you have it all except true love, you still want more. Odette, who looks like Linda Lusardi in a DKNY suit and has more zeros at the end of her bank balance than an astronomer's altimeter, decides to throw up the high-powered job that doesn't leave time for relationships and start her own club/restaurant. But the venture seems doomed before it has even begun, cursed by a seductive sleeping partner who sleeps around, and a rival chef who is as gorgeous as Jean-Christophe Novelli and as temperamental as Marco Pierre White. When a tall, bullying South African game ranger joins her law suitors and triples her interest, Odette plots their downfall. If revenge is a dish best eaten cold, where better to serve it than in a restaurant? But as she jumps from the frying pan into the fire, she might end up getting her heart broken, her fingers burnt and her goose cooked . . .
Felix Sylvian is a charming, silken-tongued dilettante; he has the sex-appeal of a school-girl's day-dream and the soul of a poet. But he has one nasty habit he can't seem to break: a sadistic tendency to ride rough-shod over any girl foolish enough to fall for him. Saskia Seaton is Felix's latest victim. Once a beautiful, precocious, aspiring actress, she is now a suicidal wreck after a whirlwind affair with Felix and a force ten finale. Retreating to lick her wounded pride, she decides she wants poetic justice. And her friend Phoebe's the one to get it. With Saskia's help, Phoebe will become Felix's dream woman. She will pursue him across his London playground and seduce him until he falls in love with her and then she will drop him just as he has so many women in the past. But Phoebe doesn't realise that when she tries to break Felix's nasty habit, she'll find herself breaking her own heart.
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