Anchoress of Shere

by Paul Moorcraft

Anchoress of Shere is a compelling crime story, set in two different centuries. It depicts the story of a beautiful woman, Christine, as she is walled up alive in a church. The location is Shere in the County of Surrey, England. The historical records, which still exist, put the date at 1329.
The twentieth-century chronicler of the fate of Christine Carpenter, the Anchoress of Shere, is a deranged Catholic priest, Father Michael Duval. Gradually, two separate sagas unfold: the bizarre world of the Middle Ages centred on Christine's entombment, and the abduction of a young woman, Marda Stewart, in Guildford, Surrey, in 1967.


In a series of exotic twists the medieval world of knights, debauchery, peasant uprisings and civil war merges into a modern hunt for a serial killer. The final piece of the puzzle is discovered in the late 1990s.


The tragedy of the anchoress is based upon historical fact, yet it is also an exploration of the most dramatic themes of today: the power of belief, sexual freedom, spiritual bondage and the individual search for self-fulfillment.


Above all, this is a gripping adventure story of a love so obsessive that it spans more than six hundred years.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, British Literature

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Anchoress of Shere - Ex
Paul Moorecraft

In 1329, Christine Carpenter, an actual personage who lived in the village of Shere in the Surrey woodlands, had herself walled up in a church cell to live out her remaining days in prayer and meditation. In our own time, scholars have come to the village to study the legendary "Anchoress of Shere" to try to understand her drastic decision.

Among them is Father Michael Duval, whose interest in Christine's story has grown into a psychotic obsession. Duval has kidnapped and killed six young women in an attempt to reproduce his crazed image of Christine. Now he has seized another victim, Marda Stewart, a bright and courageous lady who knows her only chance to survive is to play an intellectual cat-and-mouse game with her maniacal captor.

Now THIS is a book!

The Anchoress of Shere is a fascinating book. I don't know that I think of it so much as a mystery, although certainly the crime is the anchor of the story, as an captivating story of obsession and insanity versus intellect and courage. The story alternates between 1967 and the 1300's, but each supports, rather than detracts from, the other.

This was a one-sitting, don't-interrupt-me, read. The quality of writing is first rate.

This is a book I can, and do, highly recommend.


2002 Top Ten Read - Obsession and insanity versus intellect and courage.

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and its set in the most beautiful village in the UK ;) Visit the church to see where Christine Carpenter was an anchoress.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very bizarre book. But okay.

In a very small town in England named Shere, a priest has embarked on a mission to chronicle the life of an actual historical figure, Christine Carpenter, known as the Anchoress of Shere. The catch is, that in his version of the story, he makes up a fictional life for her, one of pain and suffering before she "entombs" herself in a small cell adjoining a church where she is never to venture forth into the world again, in order to seek redemption and to become more Christ-like. All of that is well and good, whatever, poetic license is not a crime. But, he finds that without a real-life Christine figure, he has writer's block and cannot proceed with his manuscript. So he chooses a young woman living in the town who is seemingly all alone, alienated from her family, as his next Christine. I say next, because as Marda (his victim) finds out, she has not been the first...

An intriguing story, and I think it could have been a lot better had it been a lot more in-depth. Granted, by the time you finish reading the story you are well aware of the priest's delusional mind; but everyone else, including the victim, seems to be very cardboard-ish.

I liked it; it is a good piece for mystery fans who like stories about obsession leading to heinous crime.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite a disturbing book, not just because of the subject matter - a Catholic priest becomes a serial killer in an attempt to create a 'holy woman' in the modern world, emulating a 13th century anchoress - but also in how the female character fared after her ordeal. The story behind the anchoress was interesting, but as it was all imagined by the killer-priest, it isn't a true story. That's a pity, because I'd like to know more about the real anchoress who inspired the book.

[Amity · Rating 1 out of 5]

It isn't that this is a poorly written book. Quite the contrary.

I suppose it's contradictory that I enjoy reading murder mysteries but have no stomach for graphic descriptions of rape, torture, and brutalizations. Perhaps it's a function of age. At any rate, this was far too graphic for me.

[Janice Bonczek · Rating 2 out of 5]

very disturbing.

[Glenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

creepy

[Wanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

11 NOV 2013 -- the Lord of the Manor deserves a fist in the face!

Review coming soon.

[Mick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well written and a page turner, but grimly rather than excitedly. For sure, I wasn't left with any kind of satisfaction to have finished this book: it seemed graphically sadistic, unpleasant and the plot twists almost inevitable.

Given the Anchoress of Shere was a real person in history, one cannot help but wonder which parts of the fourteenth century timeline were factual and which are supposition or literary licence. That said, the references to Shere and the surrounding Hurtwood area are all spot on, so being well acquainted with the village and countryside, it was nice to be able to map out the action.

Sorry, perhaps just not my cup of tea

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. I picked it up hoping for a historical novel about anchoresses and women in the Middle Ages. What I found was a deranged fantasy set from a modern male priest's imagination - NOT historical, not interested in the actual story of women or Christine, the (real) Anchoress of Shere. Honestly, I only got about 20 pages in - there's a brutal medieval rape of a young woman by a priest, in a "prima noctis" fashion that I found extremely infuriating.

[Mr V F W Soeterik]

I first became interested in this story when I visited the village of Shire and saw where the Anchoress was living inside the walls of the local Church. It was an intriguing story. The book covers that well enough but it set in modern times and is also about the story of a rogue priest who entombed several women and how eventually he is caught. A gruesome read intertwined with medieval history.

[dominic rumble · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bit of a Barbara Cartlandesque novel.Very disappointing.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

"c2002. A really unusual read picked up from a charity shop. Courtesy of murder express ""Anchoress begins as a story on two levels. Set in the 1960s, a British Catholic priest, Michael Duval, is writing his fictional biography of a fourteenth century woman named Christine Carpenter who, as a result of trauma induced by sexual abuse, has entered a convent and asked to become a solitary nun. She is granted her wish to become an ""anchoress"" and locked into a small, dark cell where her daily needs are met by the other nuns and her family, but she must remain entombed alone in prayer."" Actual letters written about Christine Carpenter in 1325 are now posted on the walls of the church at Shere. However, her fictional biographer is devising his own understanding of her motivations and prophesies. Paul Moorcraft (1948-) studied at both University of Pretoria and University of Harare.

"

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based in rural English town of Shere, a mad priest is consumed with fantasies about a medieval woman (the anchoress) who was entombed in the village church, broke her vows to be with her sister who had suffered under the Lord of the Manor and then was re-entombed. Desiring to re-create the anchoress, the priest begins to write her story as he imagines it.

A concurring story of the disappearance of the young Marda Stewart in 1967 is entwined with the story of Christine Carpenter the Anchoress of Shere.

This is a chilling story of madness, medieval and present day.

[Undercovershygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book - murder mystery that leaps from the history books of real anchoresses who walled themselves in churches to pay their lifetime of respect to GOD to a modern day obsessed man who is enthralled with the story of a specific anchoress. It's a pretty easy read along the lines of "thrillers" but i especially appreciated how the story was told and the attention given to the historical aspects with a suspenseful tie in to the future. One of my faves!

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro extraño, pero interesante. La idea de las 'ancoresas' (no se como traducir esto) me parece fascinante y me era absolutamente desconocida. El autor consigue, mezclando el pasado con el presente, una novela que se lee del tirón, sin alardes literarios pero suave y ligera hasta el final.

[ShareStories · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not want to like this book as I don't enjoy violence. But the book, once begun, is worth finishing as it shows that continuing life in the face of horrible occurrences is truly a gift of God.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hadn't heard about the practice of walling up religious practitioners. SO that was very interesting.

[PennsyLady (Bev) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not certain why this book did not appeal to me.
The initial premise looked promising.
If the concept appeals to you, my suggestion would be to read and see.

[Tanya Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my genre, but an okay story. Slow in some parts...

[Mary G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good and interesting.