Book of Colours

Superb novel from The Anchoress author, set in 1320 depicting the “ edgling book trade” of London. Fleeing Cambridge, Will climbs a cross King Edward I erected for wife Eleanor, to spy his new city. Finding work at John and Gemma Doncaster’s shop, he joins them on a commission to make a Book of Hours for Lady Mathilda and Sir Robert Fitzjohn. So begins an ecstatic evocation of the skills of scribes and illuminators. First the parchmenter chooses goat-, sheep- or calfskin, which is soaked, scraped and stretched to make paper. Then the “gathering” of four sheets, cut to make eight, folded for scribes and laid out for illuminators. In 1322, when pregnant Lady Mathilda unwraps the silken-bound calendar she desired to show prosperity, her “traitor” husband is back from war – dead; now it is her prayer book. Cadwallader’s women are strong – Mathilda takes control of running the estate.