Lilies for Love
During the civil war between King Stephen and Queen Matilda in the 1140s, a young girl named Janna arrives at Wiltune Abbey. She is seeking refuge from the man who murdered her mother as well as the identity of her father. Although the abbess had once known Janna’s mother, she doesn’t help her. Among Jana’s few possessions is a letter he wrote to her mother. A nun teaches her to read, but it only suggests another place to look. After a puzzling encounter with Queen Matilda, a visitor to the Abbey who gives the reader, at least, a clue to the identity of Janna’s father, she leaves to continue her quest.
This is Book Three in the Janna Mysteries intended for the young adult reader. Pulman is an award-winning author, and her research provides a lot of color and interesting facts about early medieval life. The heroine is sophisticated and experienced as she solves mysteries and makes a love match between her friend and the abbey’s bailiff, despite the fact that she is an adolescent.
