The second in a series of contemporary ecclesiastical mysteries: The Norbridge Chronicles.

The Psalter is the prayerbook of the people of God. The tradition of incorporating the Psalter in the teaching and life and worship of the primitive community was maintained in the centuries following the apostolic period and continued to provide a major influence upon the thought and spirituality of Christians throughout patristic times. Perhaps no other book of the Bible has been more fully commented upon and explained than the Psalter, right on through the Middle Ages and into Reformation times. - from Foreward by John Eudes Bamberger, Abbott of the Genesee

- New edition of this exploration of one of Britain's greatest buildings - A comprehensive, beautifully illustrated survey of Westminster Abbey's art treasures Westminster Abbey has a history stretching back over a thousand years. Founded as a Benedictine monastery in the mid-tenth century, it is the coronation church where monarchs have been crowned amid great splendor since 1066. The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is a treasure house of architectural and artistic achievement on which each succeeding century has left its mark. The medieval and Renaissance tombs within the Abbey, though among the most important in Europe, form only a small part of the extraordinary collection of gravestones, memorials and monumental sculpture for which it has long been famous. Ranging from the thirteenth-century shrine of St Edward and the Renaissance splendor of Henry VII's Lady Chapel, to the literary memorials of Poets' Corner and the statues of twentieth-century martyrs on the Abbey's west front, this book describes the stained glass, furniture, sculpture, textiles, wall paintings and many other historic artefacts found within this remarkable church. Contents: Introduction; Edward the Confessor's Chapel; Sacrarium and High Altar; Quire and Crossing; North Transept and Ambulatory; South Ambulatory and Transept; Nave; Lady Chapel; Cloisters; Abbey Precincts.

She didn't expect to meet her maker quite so soon... In the picturesque village of Tarnfield in the North of England, feuds and rivalries lie hidden under its genteel surface. Then the new vicar decides it's time the community was shaken up and that brings together an unlikely alliance of Suzy Spencer, working mother, part time tv producer, sometime (amateur) flower arranger and full time mess, and Robert Clark, conservative widower of the parish. But their alliance comes too late to save the regular flower arranger, found decoratively slain among her own handiwork in the local church vestry...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A delightful debut.”—People For readers of Lilac Girls and The Nightingale, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir unfolds the struggles, affairs, deceptions, and triumphs of a village choir during World War II. As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge an uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar’s stuffy edict to close the choir and instead “carry on singing,” resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. We come to know the home-front struggles of five unforgettable choir members: a timid widow devastated when her only son goes to fight; the older daughter of a local scion drawn to a mysterious artist; her younger sister pining over an impossible crush; a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia hiding a family secret; and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past. An enchanting ensemble story that shuttles from village intrigue to romance to the heartbreaking matters of life and death, Jennifer Ryan’s debut novel thrillingly illuminates the true strength of the women on the home front in a village of indomitable spirit.

This wide-ranging book explores the architecture—principally ecclesiastical—of Normandy from 1120 to 1270, a period of profound social, cultural, and political change. In 1204, control of the duchy of Normandy passed from the hands of the Anglo-Norman/Angevin descendants of William the Conqueror to the Capetian kingdom of France. The book examines the enormous cultural impact of this political change and places the architecture of the time in the context of the Normans’ complicated sense of their own identity. It is the first book to consider the inception and development of gothic architecture in Normandy and the first to establish a reliable chronology of buildings. Lindy Grant extends her investigation beyond the buildings themselves and also offers an account of those who commissioned, built, and used them. The humanized story she tells provides sharp insights not only into Normandy’s medieval architecture, but also into the fascinating society from which it emerged.