Book description
Chaucer's pilgrims are sheltering in a friary as they slowly wind their
way towards Canterbury. As they settle for the night, away from the
darkness outside and the shadowy figures that haunt the lanes and byways
of medieval England, the Franklin narrates a mysterious, bloody tale - a
true story, he suggests, which not only affects his own life, but the
lives of some of his fellow pilgrims... In 1356 the Black Prince has won
his resounding victory at Poitiers. However, in that bloody fight, the
impoverished knight Gilbert Savage received his death wound. As Gilbert
lies dying in a ditch he tells his squire, Richard Greenele, that the
story of his parents perishing during the plague is untrue. Richard, if
he wishes to uncover what really happened, must travel to Colchester and
seek out the lawyer Hugo Coticol who holds a sealed letter telling the
truth of Richard's parentage and the dreadful secrets surrounding his
father's disgraceful death. This document contains a most macabre
confession and Richard finds himself a small step closer to discovering
the truth, and compelled to avenge his father's name. Paul Doherty was
born in Middlesbrough. He studied History at Liverpool and Oxford
Universities and obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and
Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of a school in north-east London
and lives with his family in Essex.
