A Vision of Light

This first installment in the "Margaret of Ashbury" trilogy by Judith Merkle Riley is set in 14th C England, a time when women had no rights and, in fact, were considered less than men in their mental capacities. They were believed to be unable to think logically and it was a radical concept to consider learning to read for any but the most wealthy women. So imagine itinerant monk Brother Gregory's chagrin when the only work he can find is to write the life story of a merchant's wife. Margaret was born near the church of Ashbury and was married off to an elderly merchant when she was only 14. Her younger brother had been taken into the Church to be trained as a cleric; this was considered a stroke of real fortune for such a poor family. Only later does Margaret learn the real reasons behind that decision. But Margaret is physically and sexually abused in her marriage, and when the plague is decimating the population, the couple leave town to avoid contamination. However Margaret, who is pregnant, takes ill and her husband abandons her by the side of the road to die. When Margaret regains consciousness, we learn she has been saved by a mid-wife/ herbalist, Hilde. The baby died, however. Margaret agrees to learn the mid-wife's skills. Her near-death experience has brought her a gift, a vision of light, that allows her to see the life force in every being, to heal the sick, and to occasionally hear God. It is noteworthy that the author has chosen to give Margaret supernatural powers in a time when women had no temporal power.
Joining an acting troupe for a while, then settling finally in London, Margaret is able to start building a clientele of those needing herbal remedies or help with childbirth. When she is called to the bedside of a couple of wealthy patrons, however, jealousies are aroused and she is imprisoned for heresy. She escapes being burned at the stake only through the intervention of her brother, who is in service to the Priest heading the inquisition council. She is forbidden to practice her craft and one of her patients offers to marry her as a solution. The horrors of her earlier marriage make her reluctant, but Master Kendall, also a wealthy merchant, is not only kind and loving, but indulges Margaret's every whim, including agreeing to let her hire a copyist for her biography and to let her learn to read and write. Life seems finally to have smiled on Margaret until Kendall dies, and then a whole new set of problems arise. Again, marriage seems the only solution to having her house stolen out from under her. Certainly intriguing enough to want to read the rest of the trilogy!
Margaret is an admirable character and the historical setting is deftly rendered to create a vivid sense of time and place. Favorable review here from Kirkus.