In the Middle Ages not all crusades were fought in the Holy Land. A two-pronged threat to the Catholic Church was growing within Christendom itself and Pope Innocent III called for the crusade against heresy to eliminate both the Albigenses and Valdenses, two movements that did not adhere to Church orthodoxy.
Andreas, a knight who longs to go on crusade to the Holy Land, finds himself fighting against one in his French homeland. While Andreas wages war for the lives and religious freedom of his people, a battle rages within his soul.
Eva, a young woman of a new religious order, the Beguines, discovers a secret message within a letter about the death of her father in the Holy Land. As she learns more of her father, she is forced to confront the profound and perilous spiritual inheritance he has bequeathed to her. A legacy for which she must fight.
Hearing of the feats of Andreas, Eva senses her inheritance may lead her to him.
Filled with battles of the flesh and the spirit, Taking the Cross reveals a passionate aspect of Medieval times where some fought ardently for the freedom of others. [provided by the author]
Attention reviewers: some medieval warfare violence
****
This was an educational and entertaining story, which is one of the things that I love about reading historical fiction. I always thought the crusades took place in the Holy Land not the south of France.
I really like the authors writing style, the story flowed smoothly with enough descriptions that I was able to visualize the setting and feel of the time period. His knowledge and love of this period in history is evident. Introduced to Andreas in the first chapter then Eva in the next this story weaves back and forth until they connect. I was able to get to know the characters, there was depth here and realized that this wasn't just a story about physical battles but also those internal ones.
This is Charles Gibson's debut and also the start of a series, definitely an author I will be reading more of. Be sure to check out his website,
Charles Gibson first started reading about history and geography when he was seven.He wrote his first short story at the age of nine.
He continues to read and write whenever he can.
Charles has spent many years researching the Middle Ages and the Crusades,
and has traveled to the Languedoc region in France.
He has combined the passions of history and geography and prose to finish his first novel, Taking the Cross.
It takes place during the summer of 1209 in France.
Charles Gibson has previously written for the inspirational book series God Allows U-Turns
as well as for a Minnesota newspaper.
He also works as a project manager for a medical device company.
He also loves travel writing,
and would like to start his own magazine some day about travel as a journey through life.
The dominant theme of his writing is freedom.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free;
therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
He lives in Minnesota with his lovely wife and energetic sons.
He can be reached at cg [at] charlesgibson [dot] net
He can be reached at cg [at] charlesgibson [dot] net
Send him your questions and comments.
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thanks for your nice words on this book, glad you liked it and discovered more of France history through it
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds good. I'd like to know more about this era. I really don't know much about the crusades. The only novel I've ever read that mentioned them was The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot.
ReplyDeleteOh, The Sister Queens I've got that in my huge tbr pile.
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