The Chalice

March 1, 2013
Henry VIII has defrocked the priesthood and despoiled the Church's convents and monasteries, though he has not killed its spirit in this sequel to The Crown (2012), continuing the story of Joanna Stafford, former nun and sometime spy, whose destiny is uncomfortably tied both to prophecy and the Tudors. Lovely Joanna's navete, her budding sexuality, and her inner turmoil, combined with the overwhelming greed of powerful religious and political men, again obscures her vision. Three indecipherable prophecies eventually propel her toward rebellion, and while these omens form the weakest part of the story, Joanna emerges as a compelling character who someow manages to weather a fierce emotional battering and the threat of execution. Presenting his narrative through the eyes of a young woman who eventually must accept the cup of her fate, Bilyeau paints a moving portrait of Catholicism during the Reformation and of reclusive, spiritual people adjusting to the world outside the cloister. This intriguing and suspenseful historical novel pairs well with C. J. Sansom's Dissolution (2003) and has the insightful feminine perspective of Brenda Rickman Vantrease's The Heretic's Wife (2010).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)