I am a coward.
Were I not, I would have died this morning on the Tor with the others, but I fled and hid. The Abbot told me I should be gone to Wales by now, but I hadn’t even the courage for that. My father spoke truer than he knew. He said I would never amount to anything as a monk, and he was right.
I close my eyes and mutter the prayers of protection for the dying.
. . . From the ancient enemy: free and defend their souls, O Lord. . . .
Across the moors three gallows loom atop the Tor. Three bodies swing in the cold November dawn. I draw my cloak about me. The bundle that is my treasure presses against my side, safely wrapped in the wool of my old habit. I try again to pray, but it is the warm baritone of the priest in my old parish in Wales, that fills my mind. More than a year has passed since he chanted those prayers for my mother. The pain still runs deep, and it is for her that I weep.
The ancient olivewood drinking bowl that young Colin finds in the treasury of Glastonbury Abbey, was disregarded as worthless wood by King Henry VIII’s men when they inventoried the abbey’s treasures. But Father Dunstan, the tortured prior who preaches forgiveness, treasures it. Father Bede, as demanding as the hated father from whom Colin has fled, covets it. Abbot Whiting finds in it the courage to face his enemy, even as monasteries are being dismantled all over sixteenth century England. Will Colin find the personal faith and sense of worth he seeks? Can he ever forgive his father... or himself?
What readers are saying about Glastonbury Tor:
.. a gripping coming of age story and a beautiful retelling of the history and legends of the Holiest Earth in England.
--Donna Fletcher Crow, author of Glastonbury: the Novel of Christian England
Writing of this quality is a rare find, and though difficult to put down, it also left me feeling very content. --Lori Fox
A compelling story of forgiveness with the mystique of Glastonbury and the very real grace of God.
--Carolyn R. Scheidies , Author's Choice Reviews
Glastonbury Tor weaves together the rich history and legend surrounding the church in the turbulent times of Henry VIII..., showing the same turbulence in the hearts and minds of individuals, wrestling with conflicting desires for power versus humility, or revenge versus forgiveness.
--E. M. Legg
On Writing Glastonbury Tor
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