This is book 7 of the "Brother Cadfael" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

The seventh Brother Cadfael novel.

This one is all about romance gone right, and romance gone wrong. And it has several of the most compelling supporting characters in it (I'm thinking of Liliwin himself, and Dame Juliana, and her daughter Susanna). The Saxon vs. Normal divide is very strong in these books; this one takes place near Easter in 1140, only 74 years after the Norman Conquest.

Seeing the minstrel Liliwin flowering under moderate doses of decent human treatment really makes quite a strong statement.

In the end, Liliwin and Ranilt's love seems in good shape, but Susanna is dead and her lover under arrest.