A The Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year
''An enthralling and wonderfully vivid novel from a master storyteller'' Joseph O''Connor
''Kneale''s medieval world is animated with a refreshing lightness of touch'' Sunday Telegraph
1289. A rich farmer fears he''ll go to hell for cheating his neighbours. His wife wants pilgrim badges to sew into her hat and show off at church. A poor, ragged villager is convinced his beloved cat is suffering in the fires of purgatory and must be rescued. A mother believes her son''s dangerous illness is punishment for her own adultery and seeks forgiveness so he may be cured. A landlord is in trouble with the church after he punched an abbot on the nose. A sexually driven noblewoman seeks a divorce so she can marry her new young beau.
These are among a ragtag band of pilgrims that sets off on the tough and dangerous journey from England to Rome, where they hope all their tro
