C. De Melo

The Apprentice: Love and Scandal in the Kingdom of Naples was written by one of my favorite authors Christine De Melo. It is her 16th novel and I have enjoyed them all. However, this story is peculiar.

The publisher's summary:

Naples, Italy 1600: In a desperate attempt to avoid an undesirable fate, “Carlo” dispatches an urgent letter to estranged cousin, Giovanni Balducci, on the eve of the Florentine Maestro's departure to Naples. The deceptive youth convinces Giovanni that he needs an apprentice, so they travel south to complete important commissions, including the adornment of the macabre San Gaudioso catacombs. What began as an adventure takes a perilous turn when the apprentice falls in love with a local monk.

Carlo meets the famed nun, Sister Giulia di Marco, and her confessor, Father Aniello Arcieri, a few years later while restoring an altarpiece in a church. The charismatic pair gradually draw the lonely artist into their scandalous Confraternity of Carnal Charity, whose wealthy noble acolytes believe divine glory can be achieved through sexual ecstasy. Unable to continue living a lie, Carlo confesses a big secret to Sister Giulia. The crafty nun wastes no time assigning the novitiate a prominent role within the cult, which soon captures the attention of the Holy Inquisition. To make matters worse, the priest leading the investigation is someone the artist knows all too well.

This gripping account of forbidden love and danger revolves around actual historical accounts. The author has spent considerable time researching in Naples, especially within the mysterious and bizarre underground catacombs.

If I had never heard about sex cults before, The Apprentice would not have been plausible. However, I once worked on a legal case where a prostitute claimed that salvation could only be obtained through sex with her. This prostitute requested that her home be exempt from property taxes because it was a church. Of course, she lost. Had I not been involved with the case, I probably would not have finished this book. The plot is bizarre even though it is plausible. I enjoyed, though, reading about the artists. I learned how they worked on paintings, obtained jobs and that they frequently were away from home working on commissions. The twist at the midway point I did not see coming and was a surprise. The plot changed significantly here and I am not sure it was for the better.… (més)

Forbidden is a novel that takes place in twelfth century England. Richard Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Kent, is a jealous man who does not trust his pregnant wife Beatrice. After his brother Edward, prior of Canterbury, falsely claims the Beatrice has not been faithful, Richard decides to remove the child that she bears from his home. He refuses to pay for the bastard's food and education. Richard takes the newborn away to a monastery, never telling Beatrice where the child is. Before he leaves, Beatrice wraps her own mother's ruby cross necklace around the baby's neck as a remembrance of her. Beatrice is left with only her oldest son Robert to raise.

At St. John Cluniac Monastery in Lewes a baby is found in a basket by a child, Gweneth. Gwen brings the child to Prior Bartholomew who expects that another unmarried woman has dropped off a baby. Usually the mother returns in a fortnight to reclaim the child but not this time. Gwen wants to name the baby Nicodemus after the Bible character and his formal name becomes Nick St. John. Nick St. John grows up alongside Gwen, her mother Agnes, and Simon who both work at the monastery. His best friend Jeremy's mother also works there. He and Jeremy both have childhood crushes on Gwen that carry on into their teenage years. However, when Jeremy talks Nick into taking monastic vows with him to be Templar Knights, thoughts of Gwen have to be suppressed.

The sibling rivalry between the Fitzwilliam brothers reached epic proportions in Forbidden. Not content to just win a fight, the brothers need to destroy each other. If destroying other family relationships helps bring that to fruition, they do so. The characters in the novel were fabulous. There were several villains, which added to the excitement. Nick's father is identified but how the father accepted the news did not seem realistic. Then men who could have been Nick's father were emotional and easily angered but when the actual father realized his paternity, he accepted it point blank. The only part that I did not like was the ending. It was too sad for this love story and ruined how I felt about the book.… (més)