The Life & Travels of Saint Cuthwin

The Life and Travels of Saint Cuthwin is a story of deep love and desperate survival in 11th Century England, a story told by a man named Cuthwin, born a peasant, who faced horror after horror in order to live for 85 years, at which time he told his story to a young monk who wrote it down. He wanted to tell his story warts and all since he had been informed that the Church was considering naming him as a Saint, an honor which Cuthwin absolutely denied. He attempted to discredit any such thoughts by revealing what he considered to be very UN-saintlike thoughts and actions. The accuracy with which Warner details life in this tumultuous period of history Is remarkable. He creates characters who come alive on the page, characters that a reader can truly imagine living in this violent and deeply religious period and who struggled through the bloody invasion of the Normans in 1066. The Life and Travels of Saint Cuthwin is literature in its truest sense, i.e., a deep...