De valkeniersknoop

by Mary Hoffman, Annelies Jorna (Translator)

Als de Italiaanse Sylvano (16) in de 14e eeuw onterecht wordt beschuldigd van moord, vindt hij onderdak in een klooster, waar hij een meisje uit een naburig klooster ontmoet. Dan wordt het klooster opgeschrikt door een serie bloedige moorden.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, Historical, Romance, Fiction, Fantasy

299 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

See also works published under Mary Lassiter

Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.

Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel

Reviews

[Neko · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry i just couldn't get into this novel and there was a big reason...The way the book was formatted!!! It drove me bloody bonkers that I found it distracting....You'd get a few paragraphs then that little annoying leaf would show up and you'd be taken off to another character and before you can blink another leaf would appear....It just broke up the story way too much. It would of been better to have super short chapters instead OR just focused on certain characters in that area then finish that chapter then the following one talk about the other characters. I guess there is always different ways to approach it but this really irked me and wrecked my enjoyment of a 'ho-hum' story.

Another thing was the character development just wasn't there..There was certainly room for improvement instead I felt like the characters could of been cardboard cutouts dropped onto different backgrounds in Italy..lol :/

Others have said this was a page turner...True in the sense that I couldn't wait until the last page was turned and I could forget I'd read this book.

Yes, I am somewhat harsh I realize that but yeah..Not what I expected...Bland and boring.

[Dorian · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a relief to be done with this book.

Why did I dislike it?

- It's written in third person omniscient, yet has frequent page breaks to skip between people's heads. There seems to be little point to these breaks, because even in Chiara's head, we can see Silvano's thoughts.
- The writing style is basic and not at all beautiful. It's dull, and there's a fair bit of telling going on, without much showing.
- The answer to the mystery is obvious, at least for part of it. As for the rest, it comes down to a dull motive. Brother Fazio is jealous of Brother Anselmo's success, has been affected by lead and arsenic from the pigments he makes, and decides to off random people to frame him. Yawn.

I started skimming at about the halfway point, because it couldn't hold my full attention. A book should demand complete focus but this one couldn't make a case as to why I should choose it over any other preoccupation.

[Liaken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I initially toyed with the idea of writing this review in the style of the book, which would be to split it up into small pieces in such a way that none of them would be complete enough in themselves to fulfill their idea. It seemed like every three to twelve paragraphs the story was broken to return to another set of characters, so I never got a sense for any of them. And the story had no cohesion. It also seemed to have a bizarre and perhaps unconscious message that beautiful people should have better lives than others. I grew weary of the main girl being referred to in the text as "the pretty novice." The story idea was interesting ... but the manner of presenting that story ruined both the story and the characters.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

2019 Review-5 Stars
It is always delightful to come back to a book you used to love and find it just as good as you remembered. It doesn't always happen. But I was cautiously and pleasantly delighted by what I found re-reading this one. The characters remain flawed but lovable. More important, I think, I really appreciate how the author characterizes the monks and the spiritual and secular nature of a calling. The revolving viewpoints worked well for keeping the story going and I really like that a range of male and female characters get POVs.

Earlier Review-4 Stars
How do you get around to reviewing a book you've read over and over again? You just don't. There is no way I could ever do justice to a book that has brought such pleasure and amusement, but I'm gong to try anyway because YOU need to read it.
Silvano da Montacuto has everything going for him: he is the only son a wealthy family, handsome, smart, and in love. Of course, the fact that said woman doesn't realize he exist (and is married to boot!)fazes him not a bit! He is certain he will win her love. When the woman's husband is murdered and Silvano's dagger is found in the man's chest, things don't look so good. Forced to flee to a monastery, his only hope is that his father can clear his name.
Meanwhile, Chiara, a young woman from a poor family, is unwillingly given to the Poor Claires (a group of nuns) because her brother refuses to pay for a dowry. Unhappy with the idea of becoming a nun and spending the rest of her life in one place, she doesn't believe for a moment that the new 'brother' in the monastery next door is any true monk.
When people start dying at the monastery Silvano is staying at, things take an even worse turn.
With humor, suspense, and romance, "The Falconer's Knot" is a book I have truly enjoyed many, many times.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars - English paperback

Fans of the author's "Stravaganza" series will welcome this novel set in Renaissance Italy.

Wealthy young nobleman Silvano, 16, is infatuated with beautiful Angelica, who is married to a coarse sheep farmer named Piero. When Piero is murdered with Silvano's dagger, the teen is forced to flee, seeking sanctuary with a group of Franciscans. At the friary, two more murders cast further suspicion on him.

A parallel story involves Aureliana, who has been forced by her family to marry a rich man she does not love. Her true love, Eduardo, has become a friar named Anselmo in the very friary where Silvano seeks refuge.

The book also provided me a rich with details story of the time period, which are woven into the plot. Especially interesting are the descriptions of the art of color-making for the pigments used for religious paintings.

So three cheers for a book I delighted in reading. Interesting characters, interesting time, the middle ages, all while wrapped around medieval mystery, mayhem, and murder.

The story carefully unwraps the story details and moved me through a variety of points of view, but still holds me captive.

This is a terrific book for mature young readers and young mature readers as our sympathy moves from teen angst to adult sorrow. Ahh, for every age!
My recommendation.

[Flo]

2024: een gouden ouwe uit mijn boekenkast getrokken, heerlijk!

[Anna Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vaguely remember reading this in Dutch when I was 12 or so. Still, I did not remember much of it except the atmosphere, which pulled me in once again. It was a little slow to start, but ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Jeffery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rarely read young adult fiction, but I picked this up at a library sale and thought it would be a quick, fun read. It was quick but it wasn't all that fun. As this is a murder mystery, one might expect there to be more time spent on the mystery of the murder, but this is not the case. Too bad. There was potential here, but I felt the characters never got fleshed out enough. Much of the action was too contrived and conveniently laid out. And the obligatory side story wherein the author teaches the reader some obscure knowledge -- in this case, how various paints were manufactured during the Renaissance -- was mere filler and had little to do with the plot.
This book's for the birds.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sure this book was only written so the author could rave about an underappreciated medieval Italian artist and go into detail about how paints were made in this period. Which, honestly, fair enough, good for her. At least she managed to make the interesting historical infodump relevant to the plot.

[Rebecca Heywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

i much enjoyed this book. Made me understand the world of friars and nuns a bit better. Plus, I knew who was going to get together romantically, but I could not figure out the second murderer. Therefore, I was kept interested to the end!

[Sofia.G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the theme is never believe everything people tell you.

[Hazel West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts on the Overall Book: I liked this book a lot, I love the setting of Medieval Italy and to top it all off with a mystery that just makes it all the better. It was a good easy read and the kind of thing you can read before bed. I wouldn't say it was actually a cozy, but it wasn't dark either, it was just an enjoyable read, but I will say that I was guessing right to the end when the mystery was solved. I figured out parts of it, but it was pleasant for me to be surprised by the result and also by the happy ending. The plot was well crafted and I truthfully didn't think anything was given away too easily. The clues were there but they were not easy to follow. I think I liked the reality of the mystery and how I could actually see it happening in real life and the fact that it wasn't overblown for the sake of a good story. It was a good story anyway, and the colorful cast of characters didn't make you need an overblown plot to enjoy the book. I also for some reason really liked reading about them making the paint colors. Maybe it's because I like to paint myself, but I had never learned about how they made paint in the medieval days and so I thought it was really interesting.

Cover-- Yae or Nay: I love this cover. Covers that immediately let me know what kind of book they are (and actually stay true to the story inside) are always awesome. You can definitely tell from looking at this that it is a mystery and that it's medieval. I love how the font and the little illuminations along the side tell the story and also go along with it because there was a lot to do with the paints and illuminations in the book as well. Again, I love it!

Characters: I really liked the cast here. Silvano and Chiara made good protagonists and both were likable characters and they weren't stupid or uncaring or really angsty like they could have been put into their situations. I also liked Brother Ansolmo and Isabella as well as the painters, and I really liked how the author created flawed characters who were like real people that the reader can relate to.

Writing Style: The style fit the story well. It was in third person as it had to be since there were so many characters that it would just get confusing having it in first. The chapters were all broken up into short breaks which normally would have bothered me, but in this book it fit very well because of the fact that we were jumping to different characters all the time, and the only other alternative would have been doing separate chapters for each character which would have been too long a time span in between scenes. It also made this a good book to pick up when you only had a few minutes which is why I read it while I was watching my downloads on the computer ;)

Problems/What bothered me: I can't say there was anything that really bothered me in this book. The plot was believable, the writing and characters were good and I enjoyed the story over all.

Conclusion: 4 stars, I really liked it, and I now want to explore some of Mary Hoffman's other books.

Recommended Audience: Older teens about fifteen and up would probably appreciate this book more than younger. And of course any adults who enjoy YA and historical mysteries, would not be disappointed in it either.

[Brighde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. There were so many conflicts and problems that all we related to each other in some way. It truly is a story of Friars, Flirtation and Foul Play.

Theme:
There are three main themes of this story. One is men shouldn’t control women’s lives because Angelica, and Isabella are forced to marry horrible people and are miserable until their husbands are murdered. And even then when their widows they still have no control over their money. Two is don’t gamble because then you will get into debt and have to kill people, Gervasio got into debt with the wealthy wool farmer and then killed him. Three true love conquers all. True love conquers all because Silivano loves Chiara and then they live happily ever after, and Isabella and Anselmo live happily ever after because he gives up the life of a friar.


Conflicts:

The problem that the Silivano had to face was that the wool farmer, Tomaso was stabbed with his knife and Silivano was found with the dying body. Another problem that he faced was when he sought refuge in a friary and Isabella’s husband Ubaldo Is stabbed with his own knife.
Then a fellow friar is poisoned. Silivano basically just waits it out till the problem is solved by itself. Another problem is that he has fallen in love with Chiara and she is a nun. This is solved because she hasn’t taken her vows yet so she can give up the life of a nun.
The problem Chiara has to face is that she has to adapt to the live of a nun, even though she has no religious tie. She had to become a nun because her brother couldn’t afford a dowry for her. Another problem is that she loves Silivano but he’s a nobleman and she’s a nun, which means she can’t pay any attention to men. This problem is solved because she hasn’t taken her vow yet, so she decides not to take her vow.
A problem that Isabella and Anselmo share is that they love each other but Anselmo is a friar. It is complicated because Ubaldo, Isabella’s late husband, was murdered and Anselmo is a suspect. This is dilemma is solved by finding the real culprit. Anselmo kills a fellow friar in self-defense so he no longer can be a friar, which means he is not held under church-related obligations.


Summary:

The story starts out as Silivano makes a poem for a wool farmer’s young pretty wife. Then the wool farmer is found dying in the street with Silivano’s dagger in his chest, Silivano is found on that street while the man is dying.
Then Silvano in search of sanctuary goes to a friary. Then Ubaldo is stabbed to death. Then a fellow friar is poisoned and dies. Then Ubaldo’s brother comes to avenge his brother and ends up in a gold casket. Then a friar is found hanging from the bell tower’s rope.
Anselmo realizes that the murderer is Brother Fazio, who was under the influence of lead poisoning. Fazio tries to stab Anselmo and they wriggle on the floor, somehow Annselmo accidentally stabs Fazio, killing him.
Silivano’s framer was Gervasio, his friend. Gervasio had gotten into debt and killed the wool farmer.
All this is going on while there are several impossible romances.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had been hanging around my house for a while, and I was quite sure who was reading it... it had library stickers on it, but had been around far too long to actually have been borrowed. The title kept grabbing my attention.. I kept thinking perhaps I would give it a try.

It turns out to be a very good period book.. all the characters are well developed and seem like read people (if a bit idealized), and the mystery was pretty good.... I definitely went for a red herring ;).

A couple things (like the ease of which a couple of the female characters navigated the world) seemed a bit off historically, but it was still a quite enjoyable book that had a rare happy ending.

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a small town near Assisi in Umbria, in 1316 CE, sixteen year old nobleman Silvano finds himself holding a dying man, a sheep farmer who's been stabbed by an unknown assailant in the street. The problem? Silvano was courting the sheep farmer's young and pretty wife, Angelica; and the dagger stuck between the man's ribs is Silvano's. Silvano is the prime suspect.

Helped by his father, Silvano flees for sanctuary to a Franciscan friary, where he poses as a novice and works in the friary's colour room - grinding coloured stones, creating colours to be used in the frescoes being painted at Assisi by the artist, Simone Martini.

Simultaneously, at the convent of the Poor Clares - next door to the friary - arrives the teenaged Chiara, orphaned and sent here by her brother, to whom she is a burden. Like Silvano, Chiara ends up working in the colour room of her cloister, and their common profession brings them into contact with (and immediate interest in) each other.

All well and sweet - but when a merchant, come to stay at the friary for a night, is found stabbed to death, the friary's usual calm peace is disturbed. And, worst of all, the chain of deaths is only just beginning...

I must admit, I bought this book solely on the basis of the blurb on the back cover; I didn't even notice it was a children's book. It is a good introduction - for, I suppose, a teenager, probably around the ages of the two protagonists of the book - to historical detective fiction. Hoffman does a fair job of describing the period, and the mystery is intriguing. What left me a little unsatisfied was the denouement: while it makes sense, there were too few clues to this effect scattered through the rest of the book. Which basically meant that by the time I arrived at the end, when the culprit is revealed and we discover why they did what they did, I felt a little cheated: things were mentioned at this point which a reader could not possibly have guessed. And isn't that - the "Oh, I should've guessed that; it was staring me in the face all the time!" - an important part of a detective novel?

Still, a good, fast-paced book, a very easy read, and with some interesting information on art and the making of traditional colours. This might be a good way to introduce a teen to medieval crime fiction - before moving on to Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries, which The Falconer's Knot reminded me of.

[Robin Kass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a boy named Silvano. He is accused of murdering the husband of a girl named Angilca, who he had fallen in love with. Silvano is then must run from the accusations, by going to be a friar. Once ha gets there he becomes a color making and gets very close to the color master Brother Ansoleth. Though Brother Asoleth's true love was stole to be a wife of a different guy, and that man shows up at the friar's house and is murdered. This puts both Brother Ansoleth and Silvano at risk, and they must find the murderer to save Isabella, and Sister Orsola(Chirar). I really liked their adventure, and found it very interesting how they found out the Silvano's best friend Gasto was the one that framed him, and the Color painter framed Brother Ansoleth because he was jealous of him. Though it was nice that Silvano let Gasto live, and Ansoleth let the brother be buried along with the people he had killed.

[Haley Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting mystery! Couldn't put it down

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek heeft een heleboel dingen waar ik dol op ben: geschiedenis, Italië, goede personages, mysterie, en een goede vertaling. Die is van Annelies Jorna, van wie we natuurlijk niet anders gewend zijn. Er is geen enkele fout te vinden, het leest vlot en strak. Niets dan lof!
Mensen die Mary Hoffmans Stravaganza-boeken hebben gelezen, zullen haar stijl herkennen. Ze heeft namelijk een goed herkenningspunt: ze springt de hele tijd heen en weer tussen verschillende standpunten van een hoop personages. Het zijn allemaal korte paragrafen, ik hou daar wel van. Een deel van het boek doet ook wat aan haar Stravaganza-reeks denken, en dan met name aan Stad van Bloemen en Stad van Schepen (Boek 3 en 5); daar zitten een beetje overeenkomstige elementen in.
Verder is het net Midsomer Murders: overal om je heen blijven de lijken zich opstapelen, het hele boek door. Ik vermoed dat de algemene setting een beetje doet denken aan Umberto Eco's De Naam van de Roos (middeleeuwen, klooster, moord), maar dat heb ik zelf nooit gelezen dus ik kan verder niet oordelen.
Je blijft het hele verhaal door in spanning zitten, wachtend op de ontknoping, en als die eindelijk komt is ze ook goed. Het enige nadeel is op den duur dat er zoveel gebeurt, met veel personages, en op zo'n korte tijd, dat je dreigt het overzicht te verliezen. Niet te snel lezen dus, en dan komt alles in orde, en het is het waard!
Oh, en de titel lijkt redelijk raar, maar dat wordt uiteindelijk ook wel duidelijk, en hij is goed gekozen!
8,3/10

[Lynx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Książkę tą wypożyczyłam z biblioteki tylko dlatego, że była opisywana jako "Imię Róży dla młodzieży. Jako, że nie znałam "Imienia Róży" jako książki (oglądałam tylko film) uznała, że książka może być ciekawa. Nie przeliczyłam się.

To krótka, ale bardzo treściwa i wciągająca historia rozgrywająca się w średniowiecznych Włoszech, w sąsiadujących ze sobą klasztorach franciszkanów i klarysek. Do klasztorów wstępują: młody Silvano, chłopak posądzony o morderstwo, którego nie popełnił, oraz Chiara, dziewczyna zbyt biedna, by móc otrzymać godziwy posag po ślubie. Młodzi mają okazję się poznać,ponieważ oba klasztory specjalizują się w wyrabianiu barwników na freski kościelne. W tym samym czasie kilku zakonników niespodziewanie traci życie.

Książka bardzo wciąga, zawiera dużo ciekawych informacji (nazwy barwników, nota historyczna na końcu książki) oraz osoby żyjące naprawdę (artysta Simone Martini). Tytuł intrygujący i nieprzypadkowy.

Ciekawa powieść, idealna dla młodzieży, która lubi wątek romantyczny połączony z tajemniczymi morderstwami.

[Pamela Bronson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun YA story set in the Italian Renaissance, but I have two main problems with it: historical accuracy and morality. The author admits herself at the back of the book that novice friars and nuns at that period would not have been able to see each other frequently the way two characters in this book do. That bothers me. The other thing that bothers me is that nobody has a problem with the hero courting a young woman married to another (I realize that part actually is historically accurate) and that another character essentially gets away with murder. It is basically clean (no business results from that courtship, for instance), a fun mystery, and an easy way to learn lots of cool stuff about the time that is actually true (unlike that one thing). You get to meet a real Renaissance artists and learn about how they did frescos then, and where they got their pigments. But I don't plan to read it again.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think some of the negative reviews of this book were a little over-the-top considering the genre. Not to say that murder is fun and light-hearted, but I wanted to read some fun fiction set in one of my favorite historical backgrounds, and that’s exactly what this is. I wasn’t expecting a profound treatise on medieval life, and if you are you probably shouldn’t look for it in YA fiction? That being said, I think the license she took with what is known historically was in the best interest of the storytelling. Like some other readers, I was bothered by how quickly the author bounced back and forth between characters; it did make an otherwise fun read a bit annoying.
I think it deserves 4 stars (or at least somewhere between 3 and 4) because I always try to rate books within their own genre, not on a grand scale of every book in the universe. Some of my favorite books would never manage more than a few stars against the great masterpieces of all time.

[Aaryn Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very interesting book, to say the least. Definitely kept my attention, and I had to finish it! Despite what the cover may convey it doesn't have a lot of "flirtation", which is great! There's more towards the last few pages or so, but anything else would have felt very very misplaced, and ruined the book. If you're able to put yourself in the place of the characters, this book will make you angry! The murder mystery is very captivating, and I had no idea who the murder was until I read it! All in all, I'd say this book is great, if you're looking for complete historical accuracy read a textbook, not a novel.

[Dara Golden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a Young adult book that was simple to read, I enjoyed it all the same even if it wasn't revolutionary and the final resolution was a bit lackluster for me.

The simplicity of it being a young adult book came back to haunt it more than a bit on several occasions but specifically in the oops the murders were all done by a crazy guy woops, didn't have much resonance overall. The supposed romance of the two main characters was non existent other than a few glances across the carriage at each other and gives more romeo and juliet vibes that it will be a tragedy and one or other of them will die. The research into medieval italy was cool but overall I would not highly reccomend it.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in Swedish not long ago at a second hand book store and got very excited, since I loved the Stravaganza books. Seems so long ago but they really stuck with me so I remembered the authors name. What about this book then? Me beeing 30 not 15. I really liked it. Not as good as stravaganza but I liked all the characthers, I didn't get bored and I had no idea for very long how it would end. It happens rarely. I would recommend it.

[Francesco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a novel to read in the context of Italy's Umbria region Renaissance period and found this one. It was fun to read it while visiting the same towns mentioned in the novel. It is a story of love and murder in a monastery in Umbria at the time when artists were finishing the frescoes in the lower Church of St. Francis in Assisi. There is a part about the making of colors for the frescoes, which is the most interesting part of the novel, otherwise lightly entertaining.

[Emily Von pfahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is really intriguing, but it suffers from being written for a young audience because it was really innocuous in terms of the tension, the end results, and the realities of life during this time period. It wasn't bad, but I felt it was a little flat and everything was tied up too neatly.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book on a whim at a library book sale. I actually thought it was written for children, like through middle school age, perhaps (it has a YA sticker on it....but I would consider it written for adults). I loved it! Hoffman is an exceptionally skilled writer, her characters are believable and fun to get to know, her murder mystery remained unsolved (to me) until the big reveal at the end, and her settings and descriptions of life in the middle ages (the book takes place in the early 1300's) are wonderful. I'd highly recommend it!

porphyry - page 33 a hard igneous rock containing crystals, usually of feldspar, in a fine-grained, typically reddish groundmass

epergne - page 44 an ornamental centerpiece for a dining table, typically used for holding fruit or flowers.

[Grace Tierney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy medieval mysteries and love this area of Italy but somehow this one wasn't entirely for me. Hard to put a finger on it although I struggled to suspend disbelief that a novice nun and refuge seeking friar would be allowed to speak, let alone detect a murder together. I enjoyed the detail about how paints and inks were made at the time. Try Ellis Peters instead.

[Solace · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was enjoyable to read. The concept and the writing were very nice. I liked the characters and the plot a lot, and the story pulls you in always leaving you wondering what will happen. At the beginning and in a few other places, it did get a bit boring to read, but overall it was a good book.

[Edie Millar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, quick easy read set in 1316 (good for plane or beach). Historical fiction- interesting to learn re life of friars and nuns in Trecento, and painting of frescoes in Assisi. Nora and Reed would enjoy!