The Mercy Seller: A Novel
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Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312377854
ISBN: 0312377851
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 2008-04-01
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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Editorial Reviews:
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In the fifteenth century, with religious intolerance spreading like wildfire across Europe, Englishwoman Anna Bookman and her grandfather, Finn, earn a living in Prague by illuminating precious books---including forbidden translations of the Bible. As their secret trade grows ever more hazardous, Finn urges Anna to seek sanctuary in England. Her passage abroad, however, will be anything but easy.
Meanwhile, a priest in London, Brother Gabriel, dutifully obeys church doctrine by granting pardons . . . for a small fee. But when he is sent to France in disguise to find the source of the banned manuscripts finding their way to England, he meets Anna, who has set up a temporary stall as a bookseller. She has no way of knowing that the rich merchant frequenting her stall is actually a priest---just as he does not know that he has met the woman for whom he will renounce his church.
It is only in England, which is far from the safe harbor once imagined, that their dangerous secrets will be revealed.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good read.
Comment: I was concerned after having read "The Illuminator" that I would be disappointed with a follow up book - but enjoyed this thoroughly. Very good balance of history to fiction. Good story development. Recommend.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Historical Albeit Biased
Comment: Vantrease is an exceptional writer but I almost chucked this book when I read the first chapter. To connect it to her first book "The Illuminator", she has her main character, Anna, tell her would-be fiance Martin, all about her grandmother and grandfather's story, breaking a cardinal rule of writing which is "Show-Don't Tell." There was a lot of opportunity to do it throughout the book and she did so it was unnecessary. Besides, if Martin is about to ask for her hand, he should already know all about her. It was done for the benefit of the readers who haven't read "The Illuminator." "The Mercy Seller" can be a stand-alone book and doesn't need a bridge.
I love the way Vantrease brings to life the time period. Her attention to detail is fascinating although I did find some of the phrases that Anna said or thought to be ones that someone in the 1500s wouldn't use. It's almost like saying "Duh?!" in the 1900s. Instances like these kind of jolts one out of immersion.
And because I am Catholic, I would like to point out that some of the portrayal of Catholic beliefs are biased and made to sound ridiculous. These include the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession), celibacy, relics, and statuaries. I don't know if Vantrease actually did research on the meaning behind our beliefs, but her writing casts a very unfair light on Catholicism. The beliefs I mentioned are still honored today and based on sound doctrine, which I am not going to discuss since this is not a review on theology. I am concerned that readers would think that indulgences are still being sold, all priests are libidinous, and the pope is the anti-Christ. Even if the time period suggests that a lot of corruption was going on in the Catholic Church, to portray all Catholic characters as villains is prejudiced. To make Gabriel a "hero", he gives up the priesthood to marry Anna and work as a copier of text (which I think alluded to him converting) as if the only redemption is to turn away from the Catholic Church. A happy ending for sure, if you're a Protestant.
In a nutshell:
Setting - outstanding
Characters - a bit shallow
Plot - nothing special, some loose ends
The best thing - the weaving of historical characters and events into the story.
If you are a Catholic, you would have to have a strong constitution to read this book since it debases our most fundamental beliefs and casts the Catholic Church as the Great Evil. I do not recommend it on this basis. My 4-star rating is because I judged the book on the quality of the writing and not its writer's principles.
If anyone is interested in learning the truth behind Catholic practices read the "Catholic for a Reason" series by Scott Hahn (who used to be a Protestant) and a much lighter read,"Why do Catholics Do That?" by Kevin Johnson.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not for Catholics
Comment: I enjoy historical fiction of the medieval period so decided to try Mrs. Vantease's books. I read the Mercy Seller in follow up to The Illuminator.
The main problems for me were that Mrs. Vantrease comes across as having a religious ax to grind and continually has her characters argue (one-sided) theology. Granted, these are books about the Lollardy, but I kept thinking "isn't there even one decent Christian Catholic in all of English Christendom"? This was especially incongruous since Mrs. Vantrease is quite tolerant in her treatment of Jews, gypsies, and pagans (Tom's calendar, Magda's praying to the god of the tree).
When we first meet Father Francis, I thought, finally, this is the one! We fall in love with Gabriel as he cares for Little Bek. How did Gabriel get to be such a gentle, good man with such an evil father/Father and distant, unknown mother, growing up with monks who have no more character than they sound like pigs when they eat? Mrs. Vantrease cannot bring herself to create true goodness in any of the Catholic characters. Gabriel, therefore, is not faced with any real choices, everything is set up for him. The author could not let Gabriel find peace, let alone forgiveness, since Father Francis was such a depraved, evil, stereotypically Catholic lecher.
Through her characters, Mrs. Vantrease also preaches - i.e., there can be no Purgatory because the word isn't in the Bible! (the word Trinity isn't in the Bible either and most Christians believe in the Trinity). The characters argue triumphantly against the real presence of the body and blood of Christ. I'm not an apologist, but in John 6:66 (666?) many of Jesus' disciples left him because Jesus gave the hard teaching "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (John 6:55). Why didn't Jesus just tell them, "hey, guys, relax, I was just speaking symbolically!" My point is just that there are arguments on both sides.
The next period in English history will see Catholic priests held in the Tower, tortured, drawn and quartered. See, for example, Alice Hogge's God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests. I wonder if Mrs. Vantrease will write about that period.
Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth or Connie Willis' Doomsday Book do a much better job of showing that people are people, some bad, some good, of whatever their religious persuasion.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Well drawn historical fiction
Comment: After reading Vantrease's The Illuminator, I could not put my finger on what it was about the book that I found vaguely unsatisfying. After having read this one, I now know: I don't find her characters very believable. There aren't any characters in this book that I outright disliked--with the exception of Archbishop Arundel and I think one would be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks him a nice guy--but I felt like they were rather flat in general, more designed to play a certain role than people in their own right. Anna was sympathetic enough but at times she was downright shrill and I didn't find Gabriel as sympathetic as I think the author would expect the reader to find him.
As far as characters go, I was most disappointed in the way Little Bek's story was left off. The only real reason I can think of for his presence in the book has to do with a plot point that comes up at the end of the novel. Otherwise, he seemed like the stock pathetic character and Vantrease made him a bit too disposible for my liking.
Vantrease's great strength, though, is in the way she structures her history. It's almost as if she actually was a part of the past. She paints it so vividly that to read one of her novels is to feel as though you are entering another world. I could almost smell the odors she described and hear the sounds of which she wrote. The true strength of her writing is in these lush and sensuous passages and I found this aspect of her work so strong that I enjoyed the book even though I didn't care all that much for the characters--and usually characters are the most important element of a novel for me. Vantrease does an exemplary job of making the past come to life.
Customer Rating:
Summary: She didn't let me down
Comment: Ever since finishing "The Illuminator", I have been waiting for this second novel by Ms. Vantrease to be published. She didn't disappoint me. The writer carries the story of Kathryn and Finn forward in time to 15th Century Prague. This was a time when Reformation ideas were taking hold all across Europe. She touches on the story of Jan Hus who attempted to spread Protestantism and died for his efforts. The clear thinking of the Czechoslovakian people has been shown many times during the centuries but we seldom hear of it. When the forces of evil move to stamp out these liberal ideas, Anna, the granddaughter of Kathryn and Finn, moves back to England. On her trip, we meet Gabriel, a priest who must be one of the most confused and conflicted characters in literature. However, it is all good. Ms. Vantrease also brings in Sir John Oldcastle, who was the model for Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff. We always think of Falstaff as a Tragicomic character and the life of Sir John Oldcastle will show that this was very true to life.
One of the reasons I picked up the first book was the mention of Julian of Norwich and John Wycliff. Before there was Henry the VIII changing the Church in England, early Reformers such as Julian and Wycliff were laying down the foundation and wrote the books which made the conversion from the Roman Church to the Church of England so simple once Henry was shown how he could use the new theology to get his way. This conversion, in spite of the stops and starts caused by the minirebellions and the reign of Mary Tudor, opened new doors and brought about changes which, in large part, made the world we live in now and certainly helped the United States to develop as it did. Those who built the foundations and the people who followed them are all here demonstrating an era which we don't hear much about.
One of the things I really like about Ms. Vantrease's books is her scholarship, and "The Mercy Seller" combines that scholarship and her ability to spin a fine story. Now I will be looking forward to her next book.
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