Song of Madeleine: A Crusader's Chronicle

Readers who long to understand the history behind the tensions of Christianity and Islam will enjoy this spiritual quest novel set in the Second Crusade. Song of Madeleine depicts the Holy Land with its beauty and danger. Lady Madeleine of the French Court finds herself at the center of an unfolding mystery--that threatens her very belief system. This book has it all: history, romance, humor, surprise and spiritual truth.

Sorry, kids. Pizza for dinner again. Mom is reading a book she can't put down! "Song of Madeleine," by Mary Bolton is a page turner which I read cover to cover. Her story of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her Ladies in Waiting on the Second Crusade is provocative, stirring and highly entertaining. How refreshing to hear a woman's voice during a period when the Church felt a female was a vessel of sin and incapable of understanding theology. The novel is so timely as Eleanor and the novel's heroine, Madeleine struggle to reach Jerusalem in the face of disapproval by the Church, court and Knights Templar. I was particularly interested in the role of women in the church, before their voices were so completely stamped out by men. Sound familiar?I was intriguedby the role Mary Magdalene and the mysteries involved in the story. This book could be another "The Red Tent." Buy it, read it and tell all your friends. You will not be disappointed. I was sorry when I finished it, but my kids were glad that I rejoined the family.

In the review I submitted, I believe I made an error. Both references to the time of the Crusade should be 12th Century. Would you please check this for me?

Mary Bolton has done for Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sister Crusaders what Marion Zimmer Bradley did in "The Mists of Avalon" for Morgan le Fey and the women in her circle. As a gifted story-teller, the author brings a powerful woman of the past, along with her associates, into the reader's world so that they become companions. The adventure begins on page one in living color and never pales. The protagonists are women of courage, commitment, love, and humor. They survive chauvinism, physical challenges, tragedy and politics. They mostly keep their wits about them and do it their way. Though the vehicle for the story is a 12th Century journey from France to Jerusalem for religious reasons, the relationships, challenges, and issues feel present and familiar. The chronicle, through the eyes of the Queen's cousin and lady in waiting, Madeleine, elucidates the Second Crusade in the Twelfth Century, which Eleanor of Aquitaine pursued with a company of women knights. Ostensibly, the Queen's husband King Louis VII and his cohorts led the Crusade. But Eleanor's resources, creativity, and leadership offer the context for the action portrayed by Madeleine. And, Madeleine, of course, ever deeply loyal to Eleanor, has her own opinions about the dynmaics and logistcis of the joureny, as well as a passionate romance and a spiritual awakening. The author's love of medieval history and her deep scholarship subtlely inform the telling of the story and allow the reader to trust in the journey. "Song of Madeleine" offers a thrilling, feminine view of history and a fast-paced chronicle of the women who lived it.