num_pages: 273
description: The cloistered walls of Shrewsbury Abbey have always protected Brother Cadfael from the raging Civil War. But when fighting escalates between Empress Maud and King Stephen, the war takes a deadly step closer to him. Taken prisoner in the battle for Maud's land is Olivier de Bretagne, Brother Cadfael's own son- born as a result of a brief encouter thirty years earlier. Now Brother Cadfael resolves to plead for his son's release at a peace conference scheduled to take place in Coventry; but there is no sign of Olivier there. After much soul searching, Cadfael makes the difficult decision to break his monastic vows, leaving Coventry without permission- because he knows he must do everything in his power to find his son.
language: English
title: Brother Cadfael's Penance
titlecomplete: Brother Cadfael's Penance (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #20)
characters: Empress Matilda, Hugh Beringar, Brother Cadfael
genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery, British Literature, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Medieval, Historical Fiction, Crime
ratings_count: 5530
places: England, Coventry, Warwickshire, England
series: Chronicles of Brother Cadfael
publisher: Sphere