The Confession of Brother Haluin (Book Review)

     Ellis Peters, The Confession of Brother Haluin (1987) #15 in the Cadfael saga. It’s early spring of 1142, the politics are as mixed up as ever, but at St Peter’s and St Paul’s abbey in Shrewsbury the crisis is a hole in the guest-hall roof, which must be repaired despite the weather. Br Haluin falls, and believing he will die, confesses to having assisted at the abortion of his own child by Bertrade, daughter of the house in which he was a squire. The girl’s mother (who insisted on the abortion) informed him that both the girl and the baby died, so Haluin has attempted to escape the world and his guilt by becoming a monk. He survives the fall, and pledges a pilgrimage to Bertrade’s grave to do penance, both in the travelling (for he is now nearly lame) and in the all-night vigil. Cadfael will accompany him. But things never go as planned: a number of more or less random events and decisions converge on the revelation that Bertrade is alive, a nun, and her daughter has a suitable wooer.
     It’s pointless to summarise the twists and turns of the plot: if you like Cadfael stories, you will like this one, too. If like me you’ll see the resolution about half-way through, the pleasure will be in living once again in Peters' version of the Middle Ages,  anachronisms and all. This is not the best of the series, but it’s a good read. Peters likes romantic love: in almost every one of these tales, a pair of star-crossed lovers is rescued from doom and, presumably, will live happily every after. **½