A01=Mary Hoffman
Author_Mary Hoffman
Category=YFCB
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_teenage-young-adult
Product details
- ISBN 9780747589006
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 07 Apr 2008
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Silvano and Chiara are two teenagers with a difference. Silvano has been accused of a murder he did not commit. Chiara has been ousted from her family as a young woman with no marriage prospects. For these two very different reasons they are forced to seek refuge in a neighbouring convent and friary. And when they meet they are instantly aware that they are both outsiders, ill at ease with monastic life. Then a grisly murder - followed by another, and then another - strikes fear into the close-knit community. Chiara and Silvano cling together within the terrifying spiral of murder as they, and the friends they have made, attempt to solve the deadly mystery. This remarkably rich mystery thriller, with all the pace and action of a 'whodunnit', is set in the incredibly atmospheric environs of a friary in 14th-century Italy. Amidst all the action of the murder mystery, the author depicts in fascinating and intricate detail the lives and tasks of the friars and nuns, whether it be crushing pigments to create paints for the fresco artists in nearby Assisi, or the daily and nightly ritual of the religious services. All the historical detail is carefully researched.
A huge cast of characters with romantic teen heroes, combined with the thriller-murder element, ensure a pacy, richly enjoyable read.
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling children's writer and critic, and the author of the hugely popular Stravaganza series. She is also the author of the bestselling Amazing Grace picture books. Mary is the editor of Armadillo, a children's literature review magazine. She has three grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in West Oxfordshire.
