The Ramsay scallop : a novel

The year is 1299. Fourteen year-old Elenor reluctantly awaits the return of her betrothed -- a man she hardly knows -- from the Crusade. Thomas, broken, and disillusioned from years of fighting, finds the very idea of marriage and lordship overwhelming. So when the village priest sends them on religious pilgrimage before the marriage, both are relieved. The journey means a postponement of the dreaded nuptials, and a last chance for adventure. As Eleanor and Thomas wend their way toward the shrine of St. James, they meet many other pilgrims -- each with their own extraordinary tales to tell and ideas to share. There is Etienne, a passionate student of philosophy; Brother Ambrose, gentle teacher of schoolboys; practical Marthe, eager for a decent life for her children. And gradually Eleanor and Thomas come to realize the glorious possibilities of the world around them... and within each other. At The Turn Of The Fourteenth Century In England, Fourteen-year-old Elenor Finds Her Betrothal To An Ambitious Lord's Son Launching Her On A Memorable Pilgrimage To Far-off Spain. Elenor clutched her too-long cloak around her, wrapping her fingers in its edges to keep them warm, and stood on tiptoe in her borrowed shoes.