The Illuminator

It is England, in the fourteenth century, the old feudal order is starting to crack but the whim of a lord or the pleasure of a bishop can still seal nearly anyones fate. For Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow desperately trying to safeguard her holdings, it is a time made both sweeter and more dangerous by the arrival of Finn, a master illuminator who is lodged at Blackingham by the Church but is secretly working on a forbidden English translation of the Bible. As their hesitant friendship grows into a passionate alliance, wonderful new storyteller Brenda Rickman Vantrease brings us a glorious novel of love, treachery, art, and redemption on the eve of the Renaissance.

Brenda Rickman Vantrease lives in Nashville, Tennessee. The Illuminator, her first novel, was a Booksense Pick in hardcover and is being translated into eleven languages.

“A sweeping portrayal of the distant past…ample in romance, mystery, and adventure.�
---The Boston Globe

“A remarkable debut novel.� ---The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“An absorbing expertly told tale…embroidered with plenty of homespun detail.�
---Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A luminescent and very readable portrait of a dark time in history.� ---Booklist

“If you liked The Birth of Venus…you'll love The Illuminator.� ---Good Housekeeping.com